MYSURU: With an election for the mayor of Mysuru slated for November 17, the entry of former chief minister Siddaramaiah on the scene has raised hopes for the Congress to wrest power in the prestigious city corporation.
His entry has also set the stage for the coalition partners JD(S) and Congress to lock horns over the matter, as Siddaramaiah is firm to land the spoils on his home turf.
Mysuru City Corporation with 65 wards has a fractured membership with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party with 22 seats, the Congress has 20 and the JD(S) 19, while the rest are Independents. Political activities have gained momentum with Siddaramaiah conveying a meeting of corporators during which he announced that the Congress will take the mayor’s post.
He along with other leaders held a closed-door meeting with Congress corporators during which he hinted that if necessary they will take up the issue with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to “clinch the deal”.
Expressing displeasure over the “poor” performance of the party in the corporation polls despite investing over Rs 4,000 crore for the development of Mysuru City, which includes a super-specialty hospital, colleges, good roads and pavements, and other such projects, he felt that the local Congress workers failed to apprise people of it with enough publicity.
Authorising H C Mahadevappa, Tanveer Sait, M K Somashekar, Ayub Khan, Vasu and others to hold talks with local JD(S) leaders on the election and to know their opinion on giving it to the Congress, he said, “I will be happy if the issue is resolved and they arrive at an understanding at the local level, or I will take up the matter with JD(S) leaders.”
‘Be vocal’
Siddaramaiah turned tutor as he educated leaders and workers of the party including corporators to develop “good communication skills”. “Dispel the BJP propaganda, and reach out to the people with word of welfare programmes we have launched,” he said.
Hitting out at MPs Prathap Simha, Naveen Kumar Kateel and Ananth Kumar Hegde for “belittling” their position by making “cheap” comments for political gains, he said that Simha was claiming credit for New Maharani’s College in the city as also for the Bengaluru-Mysuru National Highway project that was cleared by the Union minister Oscar Fernandes of the Congress.
He said that it was then PWD Minister H C Mahadevappa who declared the state highway as a national highway and got its approval for expansion to six lanes. “How can anyone take credit for this project other than the Congress,” he asked.
“Supporters of the Congress should troll the BJP over its bundle of lies. Unless you people dispute their claims and educate the masses on the contribution of the Congress, the BJP will continue to gain from wrong propaganda,” he said.
Siddaramaiah also put them on poll mode for the Lok Sabha election urging them to connect with the people and win their goodwill to counter the BJP.