Janarinda, Janarigagi (of the people, for the people). The message was wrapped in high-voltage speeches and a show of cadre strength as the opposition Congress party on Monday declared its readiness to face a fresh Assembly election.

Janandolana — that hosted thousands of party workers from six districts at the Palace Grounds — had the leaders making the party’s stance clear: Dissolve the Assembly, go for a fresh mandate.

The leaders, all through the convention, targeted the BJP as well as the JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the Congress never tried to split the JD(S) or muster up numbers to form its own government.

Godse’s men

He also called the BJP leaders as “Godse’s men” and slammed them for staging a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue. The crowds reserved their loudest for Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar and Ambareesh, who in trademark style took the Gowda family and the BJP on.

Siddaramaiah alleged that the former government had received huge amounts as kickbacks for clearing projects, including the proposed industrial township in Bidadi and said the next Assembly poll would formalise the JD(S)’ sarvanaasha. Shivakumar, in a direct attack on the BJP leader Ananth Kumar — over his reported reference to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and MP Rahul Gandhi as nakli (fake) Gandhis — urged the Youth Congress members to target Kumar.

While the State leaders stuck to the customary charges of opportunism against the JD(S) and the BJP, the party’s Union ministers — including M V Rajashekaran and K H Muniyappa — chose to detail the programmes devised by the UPA Government at the Centre, in a clear indication that the party was also using the convention as a curtain raiser for a possible election campaign.

ON THE SIDELINES

*Personal attacks the order of the day; Yeddyurappa and the Gowdas take most of the hits
*Cartoons, banners that mock the JD(S)-BJP “remarriage” catch attention
*Rani Satish the only woman leader to address the gathering
*Cadres asked to keep the drum-and-dance celebrations low-key
*Small-time vendors do brisk business at the venue
*Large teams of policemen in place to monitor security at the venue
*Crowds root for Ambareesh, till he winds the convention up with his address
*Ambareesh draws cheers by remarking “20-20, Kumaraswamy 420”