Cong responsible for non-selection of Lokpal, says BJP

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Wednesday charged Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge with being responsible for the non-selection of the Lokpal as he did not attend meetings convened to discuss the matter.

Speaking to mediapersons here, he said the party (Congress) which brought the Right to Information Act was not keen on selecting the Lokpal. He urged Congress president Rahul Gandhi to respond to this in his address at Ankola, Uttara Kannada district on Thursday.

Posing 10 questions to the Congress chief and urging him to reply to them in Ankola, the BJP leader said Bengaluru, which was in the 7th spot in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2015, had slipped to the 210th spot today. "Who is responsible for this Rahulji?" Patra said.

He said 16 people had lost their lives in 15 days in October, 2015, in Bengaluru due to bad roads. This brought bad repute to Bengaluru. The Siddaramaiah-led government wanted to build an arterial road measuring 10.7 km road worth Rs 468 crore, costlier than the Mangalyan project, which is worth Rs 450 crore. The arterial road costs Rs 43 crore per km. People of Karnataka want to know why this costly project using their money, the BJP leader asked the Congress chief.

Taking a dig at the ruling Congress in Karnataka, he said the party leaders had lost confidence in getting elected. So, many wanted to contest from two constituencies, including KPCC president G Parameshwara. At last, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is facing the polls from two seats - Badami and Chamundeshwari.

The Congress leader is scared of losing the Chamundeshwari seat. So, he decided to face the polls from Badami too. "The chief minister will be defeated in the polls. Even JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy is facing the elections from two seats. But only B S Yeddyurappa, BJP's chief ministerial candidate, is not doing so as he is confident of emerging victorious from Shikaripura," the spokesperson said.