Survey says public opinion is in favour of Congress, claims CM

Switch to the election mode. This was the message Chief Minister Siddaramaiah gave to the party legislators at the Congress legislature party meeting held on Friday.

He gave some tips to the legislators for improving their image in the coming days. Go back to the constituencies soon after the session, review implementation of the government schemes and listen to people’s grievances, Siddaramaiah is learnt to have told his party legislators. The chief minister chaired the meeting that was held at the Vidhana Soudha. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara was also present at the meeting.

Siddaramaiah is learnt to have told the legislators that the public opinion is in favour of the party government. A survey being conducted by the party to assess the popularity of the government has revealed that people are happy with the government’s performance. The survey has been completed in 50 assembly constituencies so far. The party will come up with a separate strategy for the constituencies where the opinion is not so favourable, he added.

Sources in the party said the chief minister told the party legislators that they need not worry about the BJP politicising the farm loan waiver issue. The saffron party does not have moral right to demand the loan waiver. The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre should first act in this regard. The farmers have borrowed more money from nationalised banks than the co-operative banks, he added.

On the Centre’s controversial decision to ban sale of cattle for slaughter, Siddaramaiah is learnt to have said that it is a sensitive issue. The state government has decided not to make any hasty move in this regard. Moreover, the Centre’s ban has been already challenged in the Supreme Court, he added.

The sources said the Congress MLA from Hunsur in Mysuru district H P Manjunath complained that Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait has recently transferred a government pre-university college lecturer in his constituency without taking him into confidence. When Sait and Manjunath indulged in a heated argument on the issue, Siddaramaiah intervened and advised them to sort out the matter amicably.