Internal fight in Cong will lead to collapse of Karnataka govt soon: Kateel

Mangaluru: Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel said that the "internal fight" in the Congress would lead to the collapse of Congress-led government in the state soon.

When asked on Congress MLA Ravikumar Gowda’s statement that BJP leaders were approaching lawmakers with Rs 50 crore offers to defect, Kateel said that there are three factions in the Congress which are led by Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar and Satish Jarkiholi.

"Any faction might come out in the open anytime. Already dinner meetings are being held by keeping away a few. Shortly, resort politics will also emerge. To divert the issue of internal politics, Congress MLAs are made to issue such statements," he said.

Case against MLA condemned

Coming down heavily on booking cases against Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja, the state party president alleged that the Karnataka government has engaged in "hate politics" since coming to power.

"Those who are raising voices for the farmers, pro-people and Hindutva leaders are booked by the police. When Belthangady MLA had gone to support a farmer who was facing harassment at the hands of the forest department, the government using the police power booked a case against him. On getting information that the house of a farmer was allegedly demolished by the forest officials, the MLA had visited the spot on October 7 and constructed a temporary shelter for the family. When the MLA brought the issue to the notice of the Forest Minister, the minister had asked to maintain status quo and asked the officials to conduct a survey. However, in spite of the minister’s direction, officials had attempted to clear the structure using police force. The officials even pushed the MLC at the spot," alleged Kateel.

"The state government is curtailing the rights of the MLA by booking a case against him. The booking of a case for an alleged social media post by MLA Poonja shows the dictatorship and Hitler attitude of the state government," he alleged.

To a query on the use of objectionable words against a CM by the MLA in a social media post, Kateel said, “Congress had initiated PayCM campaign during the BJP tenure in the state. Siddaramaiah had been using derogatory words against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If cases are to be booked for social media post, then majority of the Congress people, including Siddaramaiah, would have landed in jail by now," he said.