Bagalkot (Karnataka), Oct 8 (IANS): Karnataka BJP President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra on Thursday accused the Congress of being frustrated over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and the country’s development trajectory and alleged that the party was attempting to create unrest and disturb peace in the country by using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as an issue.
Speaking to reporters in Bagalkot, Vijayendra said Wednesday was a historic day as the country had witnessed 25 years of the “spotless political service and governance” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said the country was witnessing the realisation of PM Modi’s vision of building a self-reliant India and transforming the country into a developed nation. Unable to tolerate this, Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, were frustrated, he alleged.
Vijayendra alleged that baseless allegations were being levelled against constitutional institutions in the name of SIR.
Vijayendra launched a scathing attack on the Congress government and questioned what Chief Minister Shivakumar has achieved during his first 100 days as Chief Minister. He said Shivakumar described himself as a “servant of the people”, but alleged that the government had shown little concern for farmers at a time when the state was facing drought.
Calling the proposed compensation of Rs 2,500 to farmers inadequate, Vijayendra said announcing such an amount was akin to offering alms to poor people. “D.K. Shivakumar has more concern for real estate than for the people. He is an expert in real estate. He is clever at extracting money from waste,” Vijayendra alleged.
He claimed that most government schemes were limited to announcements and publicity and that an impression had emerged among people that the Chief Minister was confined to Bengaluru.
Vijayendra alleged that instead of prioritising irrigation and development projects in North Karnataka, including the Upper Krishna Project (UKP), the government was announcing plans to construct ring roads in every taluk.
He alleged that the plan to borrow from the World Bank to construct ring roads was driven by real estate interests.
He also criticised the government for not showing interest in filling vacant government posts and accused it of failing to clarify its position on the caste reservation issue taken up during the Basavaraj Bommai government.
He also accused the government of failing to prevent incidents of atrocities against Dalits and crimes against women after Priyank Kharge took charge as Home Minister.
Vijayendra alleged that the Congress was attempting to regain power by making colourful promises and “sowing the seeds of caste poison” in society.
He claimed that people were fed up with the Congress government’s administration and said the BJP was strengthening its organisation through the ‘Booth Sankalpa Yatra’ ahead of the upcoming Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections.
Reacting to Shivakumar’s recent warning to ministers to remain cautious about sting operations, Vijayendra referred to the Ramesh Jarkiholi case and said people knew who had conducted the sting operation in that matter.
“Will they conduct sting operations against their own MLAs? People also know who conducted the ‘sting operation’,” he said sarcastically.
Vijayendra criticised Rahul Gandhi for bringing together different political parties and organisations for protests over SIR. He claimed that Gandhi had realised that it was not possible for the Congress to return to power on its own and was therefore bringing together various groups and parties for support.
Responding to Shivakumar’s statement that he would become Chief Minister again if the Congress returned to power in 2028, Vijayendra said he had no objection to the Chief Minister returning to the post but asked him to focus on governance.
“I have no objection to D.K. Shivakumar becoming Chief Minister again. But he should put aside the sting operations and ‘ding operations’ and govern properly,” he said.
