MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is keen on bringing back the Congress to power in 2018, said on Tuesday he will tour the state from December 15 for a month to gear party men for the 2018 assembly polls. He said he will visit all the 224 constituencies in the first phase to connect the party with people and enlighten voters about the government’s welfare programmes.
Addressing Congress workers at Chamundeshwari constituency, he said they are confident that people of the state will give them a clear mandate to form the government on their own.
“We will come back to power with absolute majority in Karnataka shattering hopes of the BJP which is chanting ‘Mission 150’,” he added.
He said the JD(S) has limited political space and ridiculed Kumaraswamy for aspiring to become chief minister. He announced that Indira canteens will be opened in all districts and taluks from January 1.
Lashing out at Yeddyurappa for levelling corruption charges against him, he dared him to release documents to prove his charges.
Stating that Congress has given a clean and transparent government, he added that they are the only elected government which has fulfilled all promises made in the poll manifesto and will seek mandate based on the performance of the government.
Siddaramaiah played the emotional card announcing that he will contest his last election from Chamundeshwari in 2018. He said he would not go back on his word and wanted to contest the 2018 elections on the insistnce of the Congress high command to lead the party to victory. He added that he has a special place for people of Chamundeshwari.
Modi magic will not work in Karnataka, says CM
Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday that BJP president Amit Shah’s visit to the state and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign will not work in Karnataka. He said BJP leaders will not be successful to keep people together on emotional issues in the state. Speaking to reporters here, he said Shah’s visit will not change the opinion of people who are impressed by the rule of the Congress. On BJP leaders joining the Congress, he said a few come and go as part of political polarisation in the run-up to polls. However, he claimed the state is witnessing polarisation of voters in favor of the Congress.
Cong to crack the whip on truant MLAs
Bengaluru: The Congress high command is unhappy at the poor participation of its MLAs in its ‘Mane Manege Congress’ mass contact programme launched recently. A special meeting of the Congress Legislature Party has been convened on Friday to take stock of the implementation of the party’s poll preparation plans. AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal is scheduled to participate in the meeting to be chaired by the chief minister. According to party sources, Venugopal is unhappy at ‘Mane Manege Congress’ losing steam after its launch last week. MLAs and leaders have been instructed to lead the campaign in their constituencies to spread awareness about the achievements of the Siddaramaiah government and the slew of welfare programmes implemented by his government.