BJP dares Congress to announce its leader

The BJP on Friday launched its campaign for the May 5 Assembly elections with its top leaders challenging the Congress to make public under whose leadership it would face the polls.

Addressing the Vijaya Sankalpa rally here, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, his predecessor D V Sadananda Gowda, Deputy Chief Minister K S Eshwarappa, BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar and the newly appointed State president Pralhad Joshi unleashed a virulent attack on the Congress.

“We have announced that we will fight the Assembly elections under Shettar’s leadership. But, the Congress lacks the  guts to  announce who will be its leader. The very moment the Congress announces its leader, the party will be shattered. What kind of administration can one expect from a party that can’t even declare its leader ahead of the polls,” the BJP leaders said.

Sadananda Gowda and Eshwarappa targeted Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, who hails from Mysore, and questioned his contribution to the uplift of the backward classes.

Congress has blackmailed former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and made him quit the BJP and launch a new party.

Every one is aware of the secret understanding between the Congress and Yeddyurappa’s KJP. In fact, KJP is nothing but the ‘B’ team of the Congress, the BJP leaders remarked.

Shettar, recollecting the achievements of the BJP government in the past five years, was hopeful of making a comeback with an absolute majority.

With over a month left for the elections, the BJP and the KJP on Friday made all-out efforts to vie for the voter’s attention in Mysore.

Yeddyurappa presided over KJP workers’ conventions in Nanjangud and Chamundeshwari and Krishnaraja Assembly constituencies in Mysore.

Yeddyurappa said he would request both Governor H R Bhardwaj and the Election Commission to ensure that the decisions taken during the recent Cabinet meeting are not implemented, in the light of the election code of conduct.

Before inaugurating the rally, Shettar and his entourage offered prayers at the Chamundeshwari temple atop Chamundi Hill, while Yeddyurappa worshipped at Srikanteshwara Swamy temple at Nanjangud.

While BJP the convention lacked its usual fanfare, the party workers from all the 11 Assembly constituencies in Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts made it complete with their participation.