Cong to stage protest over relief to flood victims

The Congress in Karnataka will stage a demonstration at Belagavi on September 23 against the 'indifferent' attitude of the BJP government in the state, as well as the centre, towards providing relief for the flood victims, a senior Congress leader said.

"We are going to stage a mega protest in Belagavi on Tuesday. The Centre has betrayed Karnataka," state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao said here. He warned that Congress would hold state-wide demonstrations if the Centre did not release funds for the flood victims.

As many as 22 districts in Karnataka were hit by floods last month following torrential rains. Almost all the rivers of North Karnataka and coastal regions were in spate, inundating large swathes of land. More than 80 people lost their lives and about 1.5 lakh houses were destroyed lakhs of hectares of crops were also damaged.

Rao took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he had sympathised with the flood victims at Houston but did not find time to console those affected in Karnataka and not released any funds for them. He also flayed the BJP MPs from the state for their 'silence' and inability to bring funds from the Centre. "Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu have BJP MPs... Where are they? what are they doing? Rao asked.

He criticised union ministers Prahlad Joshi, Suresh Angadi and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, all of whom hail from the flood affected areas in the state, for their 'failure' to impress upon the Centre to release funds to Karnataka. "The BJP is following the anti-people policies and is doing injustice to the people. Never has any Central government betrayed Karnataka as the Modi government has done," he said.