BANGALORE: External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has expressed confidence that Congress candidate Jayaprakash Hegde will wrest the Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat from the BJP in the March 18 by-election.
Speaking to newsmen after visiting the seer of Adi Chunchanagiri Mutt at Vijayanagar on Sunday, Krishna said the seat was originally a Congress bastion and would be regained by the party in the by-election.
Describing Jayaprakash Hegde as a sober and efficient candidate, Krishna expressed confidence that people would see him victorious after the election. “All the people in the party are unitedly working for the success of the party under the leadership of Oscar Fernandes,” he added.
Krishna added that under the BJP rule, the morality of the public life touched its rock bottom after the party was caught in various corruption charges. He also, mentioned the incident of three former BJP ministers watching porn clippings in the Assembly.
He said the person heading the BJP government was soaked in corruption and several other ministers also lost their jobs by following the footsteps of their leader.However, Krishna asserted that he had not discussed politics with the seer.
He said his talks with the pontiff were related to the mutt’s extending its educational activities to Malaysia and Sri Lanka. He said his ministry would extend all cooperation in this regard. Krishna, also the party in-charge for the Bangalore Revenue division, attended a series of meeting with his party men over the weekend and discussed organisational matters, and taluk and booth committee members of Chitradurga and Tumkur districts. He also chaired the divisional level meeting of the party members on Saturday. He also promised to work hard for the victory of the Congress candidate in the by-election.