District Congress gears up for upcoming Assembly elections

Siddaramaiah will continue as CM for second time: Shivanna

With Assembly elections fast approaching, the District Congress Committee is gearing up to face the polls and are confident of winning all the eight Assembly segments in the district, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) General Secretary B S Shivanna (Malavalli Shivanna) said.

Addressing reporters here on Sunday, Shivanna, who is also in charge of Mysuru district, exuded confidence that Congress candidates will emerge winners from all the eight constituencies (except Mysuru city) and Siddaramaiah will continue as the chief minister for another term.

‘Campaigns’

“We will seek votes highlighting the pro-people programmes introduced by the Congress government,” Shivanna said.

The party workers will conduct door-to-door campaign and explain the importance of the government programmes. Booth-level committees, comprising 13 members, including president, vice-president and secretary, will start campaigning in every village.

Rahul to visit in Sept

There are around 2,039 booths in Mysuru district and all the members will be appointed by the end of August.

All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi will visit the state and address the committee members at a conference to be held in September, Shivanna said.

The state government, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has been working towards the welfare of the state and the people.

“We have implemented many pro-people programmes and people will definitely bless us,” Shivanna said.

He also pointed out that a few state governments have appreciated Karnataka government’s programmes. The victory of Congress candidates in Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls show that people have accepted Congress party, he said.

‘Baseless allegations’

He ridiculed BJP State president B S Yeddyurappa’s visit to Dalit homes and termed it “political drama”. “If he (Yeddyurappa) is really concerned about Dalits let him announce a Dalit man as a CM candidate from BJP,” Shivanna challenged. BJP has been levelling baseless allegations against Congress party and Siddaramaiah to spoil the party’s reputation. But people are clever and will nonetheless extend their support to Congress, he said.

BJP tried to disturb communal harmony in Dakshina Kannada but the state government managed to tackle the situation, he said. Shivanna alleged that many BJP leaders are supporters of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who has been convicted in a rape case.

‘Clean governance’

Claiming that the Congress party has given a clean governance, Shivanna alleged that the recent Income Tax Department raid on the premises of Energy Minister D K Shivakumar was politically motivated. Shivanna said that the Congress party, led by AICC vice president and Siddaramaiah, will face Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

District unit president B J Vijaykumar, leaders Patel Shivanna and others were present.