BENGALURU: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda on Saturday said that the people of the state are being exploited by a corrupt system and that there is a need to change it.
Addressing a party workers’ convention at Gandhi Nagar in Bengaluru on Saturday, Gowda said, “People are exploited by the corrupt system that is not allowing them to live in peace and officials are also not allowed to work independently. There is a need to change it. God has given me power and I will not leave them (those exploiting people).’’ Gowda said he will travel across the state to bring the party back to power in Karnataka.
Taking a dig at the Siddaramaiah government, the former PM said law and order in the state has completely collapsed, as evident from the number of murders in the last few days. Corruption is the only achievement of this government that is looting people in the name of taking up welfare programmes for the poor, he added. “We will expose those looting Bengaluru once our government comes to power in the state after the assembly polls,’’ he said.
Referring to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s ‘Nava Karnataka Yatra’, Gowda said `650 crore from the state exchequer was spent for government programmes that in reality were Congress party’s election conventions, he said, and sought an explanation from the government on the money spent on the Nava Karnataka Yatra.
Two JD(S) MLAs — Shivaraj Patil and Manappa Vajjal — have joined BJP. “That will not have any impact on the party. Our party workers are our strength and they will continue to work for it,’’ he added.