Bangalore, August 18, 2013: With just a day remaining for the public campaign for the August 21 byelections to Bangalore Rural and Mandya Lok Sabha constituencies, the Congress and the JD(S) on Sunday intensified their campaign.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief G Parameshwara, former external affairs minister S M Krishna and Union ministers M Veerappa Moily and K H Muniyappa campaigned for the Congress candidate D K Suresh at Rajarajeshwaranagar, while BJP leader R Ashoka conducted a roadshow seeking votes for JD(S) candidate Anitha Kumaraswamy.
Bangalore, August 18, 2013: With just a day remaining for the public campaign for the August 21 byelections to Bangalore Rural and Mandya Lok Sabha constituencies, the Congress and the JD(S) on Sunday intensified their campaign.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief G Parameshwara, former external affairs minister S M Krishna and Union ministers M Veerappa Moily and K H Muniyappa campaigned for the Congress candidate D K Suresh at Rajarajeshwaranagar, while BJP leader R Ashoka conducted a roadshow seeking votes for JD(S) candidate Anitha Kumaraswamy.
BJP supports JD(S)
It was for the first time a BJP leader openly campaigned for the JD(S). Anitha too was present with Ashoka during the roadshow.
The JD(S) has entered into an understanding with the BJP for the bypoll.
Reacting to Gowda’s reported statement that he was tortured by Krishna as the chief minister, the former external affairs minister said if he really wanted to target Gowda, his administration would have ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the Upper Krishna Project.
“The file on UKP scam that took place when Gowda was chief minister was before me. The House committee had strongly recommended for a CBI probe. Had I wanted to torture Gowda, I could have ordered CBI probe, but I didn’t do it,” Krishna stated.
On Gowda’s allegation that the Congress did not make dalit leader Mallikarjuna Kharge the chief minister, Siddaramaiah said the former prime minister could have made D Manjunath, a dalit the chief minister. Instead, he made his son H D Kumaraswamy the chief minister in 2006.
Siddaramaiah said the father-son duo of Gowda and Kumaraswamy are jealous because he became the chief minister. They have become fish out of water.
“Kumaraswamy has been saying that I will not remain in office for long. But I will remain in office as long as I have people’s blessings and support of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” he stated. The public campaign for the bypolls will end at 5 pm on Monday.
