Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
This election is a fight between the kept promises of the Congress and the falsehoods of the BJP, Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar said in Belagavi on May 5.
“We have fulfilled all our promises. But the BJP has been betraying people for 10 years with false promises. This election is nothing but a fight between the kept promises and falsehood,’‘ he said.
“The BJP has not fulfilled any promises that it made in the last 10 years. It does nothing but politics of sensationalism and refuses to address issues about the livelihood of people. Congress has taken a historic decision to change the lives of people. But the BJP is engaged in diversionary techniques,’‘ he said.
“Just as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and I signed the guarantee cards in the State, our senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have signed the guarantee cards at the national level. Congress will roll out these guarantees as soon as we come to power at the centre,’‘ he said.
“Many BJP leaders including B.S. Yediyurappa, B.Y. Vijayendra and R. Ashok have said that there won’t be any guarantees after the elections, but they are daydreaming. BJP leaders may also be trying to stop the guarantees but be rest assured, we won’t let that happen,” he added.
“BJP leaders are talking about SC and ST people. It was the Siddaramaiah government which brought the SCP-TSP law and allocated budgets to various communities. This year, we have allocated ₹39,000 crores for SC, ST and the poor while BJP has been ignoring this section of people completely,’‘ he said.
The BJP has been making empty statements about irrigation projects. We have taken up many irrigation projects in this part of the state including Upper Krishna and Upper Bhadra. We have even called for tenders in Mahadayi though the centre is yet to give environmental clearance,’‘ the Congress leader said.
He said that while the Congress had opposed the three farm laws, the JD(S) which claims to be a pro-farmers party had supported them.
The BJP’s campaign focusses on religion but it had opposed our government’s legislation to improve the incomes of smaller temples. This legislation would have helped the priests and their children, but BJP ensured that the Governor blocked the new legislation,’‘ Mr Shivakumar said.
When we come to power, we will implement schemes like ‘our tax our right’ , and implement irrigation projects like Mekedatu, Mahadayi and Bhadra. The Union government announced ₹5300 crore for the Upper Bhadra but did not release funds,’‘ he said. “The Prime Minister is talking about mangala sutra. The gold used for mangala sutra was ₹24000 per 10 gram during the Manmohan Singh government and has reached ₹74,000 today,’‘ the he said.
