Raising his voice against allocation of funds for maths in the State in this year’s budget, Samajwadi Party President S Bangarappa on Saturday said there should be an inquiry into the recently-concluded ‘Go Sammelan’ at Ramchandrapura Math in Shimoga.
In a press meet held here, Mr Bangarappa lashed out at the government for allocating Rs 3 crore for the convention. “Budget allocations are for development projects and activities. Why should crores of money be spent on maths and fairs? This is entirely a BJP programme. Their party leaders like Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia and Sudarshan had come to the ‘Go Sammelan’ making it a purely BJP propaganda. I wonder why Mr Deve Gowda is keeping quiet about all this? He should be careful,” he said.
He demanded that the government stop granting funds to religious institutions, jathre and fairs, and instead concentrate on educational and development projects.
On the Ullal by-poll, Mr Bangarappa said SP would not be fielding its candidate.
On Uttar Pradesh elections, he said polling was below 50 per cent - a poor indicator of the functioning of democracy.
The SP leader said former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav will re-build the party in UP and other states. On Congress Party, Mr Bangarappa said the party was completely “smashed in most states, which shows the trend is against that party. It lost elections in Punjab, Uttaranchal, UP and municipal elections in Delhi and Mumbai. The Leftist parties are also thinking of withdrawing their support to the Congress,” he said.
“Even the BJP has lost ground in UP. The wipe out of two major national parties is a clear indication the time is ripe for forging a Third Front at the national level with the help of Jayalalitha (AIADMK), Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Asom Gana Parishad and other smaller parties,” he said.