BENGALURU: Buoyed by the success of its recent ‘Janata Jaladhare’ rally, the Janatha Dal (Secular) on Wednesday procured 123 vehicles to take the party’s manifesto to people during campaigning for the 2023 Assembly polls in the states.
The vehicles, which will be equipped with LCD screens, will travel across 180 Assembly constituencies and highlight the party’s ‘pancharatna’ schemes -- agriculture, health, irrigation, employment, women and youth empowerment, said party leader and former CM H D Kumaraswamy, who received the keys of the Tata Ace vehicles at a showroom on Tumakuru Road.
The BJP wasted no time in tweeting about this. The party asked whether the JDS has 123 candidates to field in the polls as one-fourth of the 123 have been defecting to other parties and it is likely to be vanquished.
“The former #LuckyDipCmHDK, Good luck with your Pancharatna program. Devegowda, Revanna, Kumaraswamy, Prajwal Revanna, Nikhil Kumaraswamy: These are the JDS pancharatnas. Is winning five seats your scheme?” the BJP tweeted.
Responding strongly to the saffron party’s barbs, Kumaraswamy said they are the real pancharatnas and the JDS will take it as a challenge to prove it. “Why did you come at us for power. Don’t you have any shame belittling the Deve Gowda family. I know what all crossroads you trod for the sake of power,” he charged. He also came down heavily on the seven BJP ministers, representing Bengaluru, for the havoc caused by the rain with the city turning into a “virtual swimming pool”.