BENGALURU: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President BK Hariprasad on Wednesday hit out at the BJP after the nomination papers of Congress Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh Meenkashi Natarajan’s nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer.
Addressing the media for the first time after taking charge as state Congress chief, Hariprasad said that the BJP, which “stole votes all these years, has now stolen the Rajya Sabha chair.”
Calling the episode a “conspiracy”, Hariprasad held Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah responsible.
He alleged that the Election Commission of India and returning officers are hand in gloves with the BJP. He said such developments threaten democracy and violate constitutional norms. “They want to demolish democracy. They are working beyond Constitution. We condemn it strongly,’’ the Congress leader said.
Further, Hariprasad said this is not the first time that such things were happening. “We have seen similar attempts in Haryana, Jharkhand and other states. Earlier they stole votes, now they are stealing chairs. In the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana, we had 37 votes.
We needed 31 votes. But we got 27 votes after four of our votes were declared invalid.
In 2016, we had 14 votes and all 14 votes were declared invalid and a BJP candidate was elected,” he rued.
Meanwhile, Hariprasad also took exception to his well-wishers greeting him with shawls and bouquets. “While there are well-off people in the Congress, it remains a party of the poor. Across the country, the Congress has only around Rs 700 crore, whereas the BJP has about Rs 10,000 crore. If you wish to honour me with a shawl or flowers, instead contribute that money to the Congress. That will help strengthen the party’s treasury,’’ he told his well-wishers.
He said in 2001 he was given the responsibility of conducting the Bengaluru municipal elections. Tickets were given to people from humble backgrounds, including hotel waiters and sanitation workers, they won, he said. He said the next two years to belong to Congress workers. “During these two years, we need to work and defeat BJP and RSS’’ he added.
Meanwhile, in his maiden meeting as KPCC chief, Hariprasad interacted with special observers appointed by Congress for the upcoming Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) polls, where he initiated the discussion on strategies to win the five corporations.
