BAGALKOT: Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol on Sunday said that there is groupism in the state Congress. Addressing the media after laying the foundation stone for the construction of sub-canals of Herkal South Lift Irrigation Project at Agasarakoppa village, Karjol said one group in the Congress is led by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah and the other group by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar. He said the third group led by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has leaders like G Parameshwara and Shamanur Shivashankarappa.He said the relationship between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar is like water and oil and they do not get along well with each other.
He said the Congress in Karnataka is a sinking boat and has lost control of 27 seats in the last few years. On murmurs of a few BJP legislators joining the Congress, Karjol said, “The opposition is so weak that no one from the BJP will join them. Congress leaders are in a state of illusionbefore the 2023 polls.”
Countering Siddaramaiah, who had said that there was no development under the BJP rule, Karjol said, “The government led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is making sincere efforts for the state’s development. After we came to power, administration was affected due to natural calamities like floods and then later because of the Covid-19 pandemic. There were no floods between 2013 and 2018 during Siddaramaiah’s rule. Then why didn’t people elect them back in 2018?” he asked.