Siddaramaiah: Victory for Congress in Karnataka will strengthen democracy

Mysuru: Former chief minister Siddaramaiah asked the party activists to ensure victory for the Congress party in 14 assembly segments in the twin districts of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, during the next elections. According to him, every vote for the Congress will contribute to strengthening of democratic values, and would be in service to the Constitution. “I’m not seeking a vote for the Congress alone. It is for the values that we stand for. It is to fight against corruption,” he said, while addressing party workers at a rally at Gandhi Square in Mysuru on Wednesday, which was hosted to pressurise the state government to arrest former minister K S Eshwarappa. He said it is imperative to elect the Congress back to power, which he said will restore the credibility of the Constitution. There are 15 assembly segments in these two districts. We should win at least 14 of them, so that we get a majority in the state, he said. Meanwhile, he continued to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and alleged that he is the only PM who has supported corruption. “Modi vowed that he will not eat and that he will not allow anybody to eat. The contractors association president Kempanna wrote him a letter about 40% commission being demaned on June 7, 2020. The association had alleged that their blood is being sucked due to this. Never in the history of Karnataka has anyone written such a letter, but no inquiry has been carried out. Why should we call you as chowkidar?” Siddaramaiah asked. Accusing the PM of failure to address the issues of farmers and the poor, he asked Modi to come for an open public debate on the issue. Demanding the arrest of former minister K S Eshwarappa, who is named in the FIR in connection with the death by suicide of a contractor, he alleged that the BJP is using the emotive issues to spread hatred in the state. “BJP workers are working in a systematic way, to ensure that problems of the people will not be discussed,” he said.He alleged that the hijab issue could have been resolved locally. “The BJP is trying to create violence in society, both in the state and the country,” he alleged. KPCC working president R Dhruvanarayana, former ministers H C Mahadevappa, Tanveer Sait, P M Narendra Swamy and MLAs Yathindra Siddaramaiah, H P Manjunath, Anil Chikkamadu as well as MLC Thimmaiah were present.