MYSURU: Former minister V Srinivasa Prasad said he will contest the Nanjangud bypoll and rise like a phoenix.
Addressing a mammoth gathering during ‘Swabhimana Samavesha’, he launched a no-holds-barred attack against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government, saying the people’s court will decide his strength and the fate of the government.
Terming both Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and G Parameshwara as betrayers for stabbing him in the back to accommodate Priyank Kharge, a first-time legislator, into the Cabinet, he said: “You people might have conspired against me. But I will prove my mettle.”
Prasad compared Siddaramaiah’s rule to Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s for rampant corruption, nepotism and favouritism. “The chief minister sacked 14 ministers. Now he has the most inefficient members like Kagodu Thimappa and Ramesh Kumar who kept on attacking the government for the last three years,” he said.
Parameshwara, with no background of the organisation and mass movement, complained against Siddaramaiah for defeating him in Koratagere, but has now joined hands with him to become minister, he said.
Terming the duo as bale jodi (a good pair), he said people will pack up the Congress to achieve Congress-mukt Karnataka. Prasad clarified that he had not gone knocking on the doors of the CM or the KPCC chief for cabinet post.
“I will show who I am when the elections are held in Varuna and Chamundeshwari constituencies.” Prasad said he wanted to respectfully retire from active politics. “I have been humiliated in the fag end of my political carreer. I have been invited by BJP, JD(S), RPI, BSP and others. I will hold talks with my followers before announcing decision to join any political party.”