Give us 15 seats to drop Kasturirangan report: HDK

Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has said that if the JD(S) wins 15 seats in Karnataka including that of Kodagu-Chikmagalur constituency in the Lok Sabha polls, then recommendations of Kasturirangan report will not be implemented. 

Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, he said that the report is harmful to the state as it will take away the livelihood of hundreds of villagers. “If our candidate wins the election, then we will impress upon the Central government to drop the proposal.” 

Flaying Siddaramaiah for accusing BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of using the money earned illegally for the election, he asked whether he had earned money as a lawyer for distributing it among volunteers who come for election campaign. Why chief minister failed to act against illegal mining units in the State, he asked. The contributions of Siddaramaiah to  Chanumndeshwari constituency which elected him for the last 25 years is nil. “I have contributed to the constituency as a Chief Minister. I am ready to challenge and invite him for an open debate on the issue.” 

BJP Candidate D V Sadananda Gowda and AAP chief Aravind Kejriwal is using personal issues as a weapon in the election and are engaged in cheap politics. Such a trend is not good for democracy. 

MLC M C Nanaiah, JD(S) district unit president V P Shashidhar, JDS candidate Chandrashekaraiah, MLA G T Deve Gowda, SDPI President Abdul Majeed among others were present. 

BJP flayed

Former MLA Basavaraju has said that the BJP has no other weapon other than Kasturirangan report to use it as an election issue. By publicly welcoming the report, BJP leader Ananth Kumar and his wife have created confusion in the minds of the people.  “We will not allow the implementation of anti-people policies of the government. We will appeal in the court to review the report.” 

He said that Gujarath chief minister Narendra Modi is busy in campaigning for the last five months and has neglected the administration of his state. The Gujarath state is far behind in education, health care and employment.