BJP’s foot march is against poor: Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday said that the BJP’s ‘Mysuru Chalo’ padyatra (foot march) is against the poor.

“BJP and JD-S’s padyatra is not against me or Siddaramaiah. They are marching against the poor. People gave Congress 43 per cent of the votes. Mandya gave us seven seats. We have successfully implemented five guarantees. The BJP is trying to bring down the government to stop these guarantees,” the Deputy Chief Minister said while addressing a gathering at the ‘Janandolan’ convention in Mandya.

He said that it is not in the fate of Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to bring down the Congress government.

“It is not written in their fate to bring down the government. Even Leader of the Opposition (LoP) R. Ashoka does not have the capacity. State President B.Y. Vijayendra was elected to the Assembly because of the Congress. Had we given the ticket to Nagaraj Gowda, Vijayendra would not have won,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

He said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is a leader of the backward classes under whom Congress is working. “It is not possible to bring down our government. The Congress government will continue for the next 10 years,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

He said that the foot march is a march for the redemption of their sins. “There is no substance in the foot march. That’s why the media is only focusing on me and Kumaraswamy,” he said.

He also criticised Kumaraswamy for failing to get approval for the Mekedatu project.

“He had said he (Kumaraswamy) would get approval in just five minutes by holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP and Kumaraswamy should respond to what happened to the Mekedatu project. I demand answers made by these alliance leaders,” he said.

He added that the state government has released 148 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu, adding that the state government had invited Kumaraswamy for a meeting on the Cauvery water issue, which the Union Minister refused.

“Kumaraswamy had time to take part in a procession in Pandavapura where he ate non-vegetarian food. However, the Cauvery issue, farmers, and the state’s welfare were not important for him,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.