Bangalore, Aug 26: Buoyed by the party winning two of the three Assembly seats that saw by-elections on August 21, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday averred that the victory was an endorsement of the government's populist schemes.
Stating that the by-election results showed people were happy with Congress administration, he said, “At the Centre, they wanted change and voted for the BJP.
Here, they voted for the Congress showing that they are happy with our work. We intend to continue the good work and build the party by increasing its credibility with good administration. Our target is 2018 Asembly elections.”
No fear factor
Observing that the BJP?leaders' reign of fear' in their bastions seems to have ended, he cited the example of Bellary.
“Of the three results, we have seen Bellary Rural has been freed from the reign of fear that forced people to vote for Sriramulu and his relatives. It was never out of love or affection, it was fear. In Shikaripura, a few minority community members came to me claiming they were scared for their lives if they voted against the BJP.
I?assured them strict action would be taken against those threatening them. The result is there to see. We have won Bellary and a large number of voters came out to vote in Shikaripura and gave the Congress a sizeable vote share.”
He said the trouncing of the BJP?in Karnataka, and in specific, Bihar, showed that if secular forces joined hands, they can beat the saffron party.
On whether the Congress was willing to tie up with the JD(S) in the next elections to defeat the BJP?by combining secular forces, Siddaramaiah asked:?“Who said the JD(S)?is a secular force? It is a misconception. It joins hands with the BJP?whenever it is convenient. The Congress is more than capable of winning elections in Karnataka on its own strength.”
The chief minister justified the assistance' given by the JD(S)?leaders in Shikaripura by stating that it was restricted only to the Assembly constituency.
“In Bellary, JD(S)?leader Suryanaryan Reddy jumped to the Congress, while in Shikaripura, it was purely restricted to that constituency,” he said.
He said the by-election results across the country showed Narendra Modi phenomenon was only temporary and questions about the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were unsubstantiated.
Parameshwara pats Siddu
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara on Monday complimented Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the party's victory in the byelections.
Addressing a press conference in the party office here, he atributed the party's victory in two of the three Assembly constituencies to the good governance being provided by the Siddaramaiah government.
He said the Congress government has delivered on several of the promises made to people in the last one year and three months. The chief minister and his ministerial colleagues have performed as per the people's aspirations. The party has grown in strength after winning the byelections, he added.
He said Siddaramaiah campaigned in all the three constituencies for about seven days despite his busy schedule. He travelled with local party leaders and campaigned at panchayat level, Parameshwara added.
He said the party leaders campaigned unitedly in all the constituencies. Electorate in Bellary Rural have voted without fear, putting an end to the ten years of oppression.
The party leaders in the district fought unitedly at the hustings under the leadership of Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, he added.
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