BJP launches attack on Congress-JDS coalition
BENGALURU: BJP leaders continued their double-barrel attack on the coalition government, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s Grama Vastavya, and former PM H D Deve Gowda’s warning on mid-term polls.
Opposition leader B S Yeddyurappa came down heavily on Kumaraswamy, saying he had cut short his village visit on the lame excuse of rain, and returned via Hyderabad. If the coalition leaders had any shame, they should have resigned after the Lok Sabha election, because the people have given the BJP 25 seats. They have been rejected by the people, he declared.
Reacting sharply to Gowda’s remark on mid-term polls, he said, “Gowda has spoken about elections when his son has gone for Grama Vastavya. If they do not have the capacity to run the government, they should resign and leave. We have 105 MLAs and can look for constitutional means to form the government. It is not good to burden the people with one more election.’’
And as he has been doing for a year, Yeddyurappa predicted that the government would not last long. Kumaraswamy chose to respond to criticism on his village stay, with a quote from writer Kuvempu: “It is better to respond with silence for questions that are meaningless. This is my response to the opposition leader’s criticism, which is unsubstantiated. The government is responding to drought effectively. My Grama Vastavya was in drought-hit Yadgir, where I learnt about the challenges faced by the people.”
The chief minister said he was foxed by the opposition’s double-speak. “On the one hand, the opposition is patting officials engaged in drought relief, and on the other, singing a different tune before the media. It appears insincere.’’
Slamming the government, BJP General Secretary Muralidhar Rao said it had allowed IMA scam kingpin Mansoor Khan to leave the country, and was also encouraging scams.