The Hindu : Karnataka News : ‘Congress has not lost ground'

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Friday, Jun 17, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka

‘Congress has not lost ground'

Staff Correspondent

I will quit politics if BJP is not defeated in next general elections: Siddaramaiah
‘Congress jatha is aimed at creating public awareness about BJP's lapses'

DAVANGERE: Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah has said that his party will defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the next elections and come to power in the State with a thumping majority. He said that he would quit politics if the Congress failed to defeat the BJP.

Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed that the Congress had not been weakened in the State. It was wrong to assume that the Congress was losing ground just because it had not won a single seat in byelections, he said and accused the BJP of luring voters with money. He said he had information about the BJP having spent more than Rs. 15 crore in each of the byelections to the Assembly.

Besides, Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had hoodwinked voters by saying that they could see vast development in the constituency if they voted for BJP candidates. The BJP had used government machinery in the elections, he said.

Hence results of the by-elections were not an indication to show that the Congress had been waning in the state, he said.If the elections had been conducted in a free and fair manner, the Congress would have won all the four seats, he claimed.

Charging the BJP with committing several sins, he said it would be thrown out of power in the next General Elections.Mr. Siddaramaiah said that he was not expecting mid-term polls in the State. The Congress jatha was aimed at creating public awareness about the serious lapses and misdeeds of the BJP Government. The Congress wanted to eradicate the communal, corrupt and anti-democratic Government, he said.

Terming Mr. B.S. Yeddyurappa and many of his Cabinet colleagues thick-skinned persons, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that though serious charges were made against them, they were reluctant to resign.

Referring to the reported statement of State BJP president K.S. Eshwarappa that Mr. Siddaramaiah was an opportunist, he said that he had to join Congress only because there was no internal democracy in the Janata Dal (S). Claiming that even the BJP had offered him the Chief Minister's post, he said he would never join the BJP.

Davangere District Congress Committee president Abdul Jabbar and general secretary D. Basavaraj were present.

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