BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka state Congress president DK Shivakumar said that BJP and JDS workers have realised that their future lies with the Congress.
“Look at the voting numbers in the last Assembly elections and the recent by-election. The Congress candidate in Channapatna had secured 15,000 votes in the last election but that number has gone up to 1.12 lakh votes this time. How can such a shift happen without the support of BJP and JDS voters?” he said.
On BJP’s protest on the Waqf issue, the DyCM said that the saffron party only wants publicity.
“The more they protest the better it is as we can expose their dual nature. The BJP is doing this to cover up the internal bickering in the party. The people have taught them a good lesson,” he said.
Asked if Congress would induct JDS MLA GT Devegowda into the party, the DyCM said, “He is a senior leader. He is the chairman of the (JDS) party core committee and has contributed significantly to JDS. We had extended an invitation to him, but he did not join as Kumaraswamy had apparently made an offer to make him a CM. He must be sad to see how he is treated in the party.”
Task force
“We will form a task force involving irrigation officials and the electricity department to stop illegal lifting of water from canals. I know there will be political pressures on you and hence you need to study the pros and cons of this initiative. Don’t rush to implement this, go about it in a phased manner,” the DyCM told the engineers at a workshop on Karnataka Irrigation (Amendment) Act 2024 organised at Vikasa Soudha.
“I am aware that you are sanctioning projects due to pressures from MLAs. Engineers were sanctioning projects under Rs 5 crore due to political pressures during Yediyurappa and Bommai’s tenure. There has to be budgetary discipline. The government will take action against the officials if something goes wrong tomorrow,” he warned.