Mysuru: Declaring their support for chief minister
Siddaramaiah and the
Congress, progressive writers, activists and thinkers including chairman of the Kannada Development Authority
SG Siddaramaiah, writer K
Marulasiddappa, president of the Karnataka Women Writers’ Association Vasundhara Bhupati, academician Aravind Malagatti, retired inspector general of the Central Reserve Police Force K Arkesh and others, said that they would officially campaign for the ruling party in the upcoming assembly elections. The activists said that their campaign would be launched officially on Friday at Ramakrishna Nagar, a locality of which the
CM is a resident, in Mysuru.
KS Shivaramu, who is organising the campaign, told The Times of India that the primary objective behind the venture was to ensure the consolidation of secular votes for the Congress party. “We want to keep the communal forces from coming to power, and that is why we have organised this campaign. All pro-people activists, rational writers and intellectuals will join the event,” he said.
Defending the participation of teachers and professors still serving at various educational institutions, Shivaramu said, “All of them are autonomous institutes, and everyone needs to raise their voice against fascist forces.”
Reiterating that their aim was to protect the ideals of the Constitution, he added, “It is a people’s political movement that is aimed at supporting both the CM and the Congress. As many as 21 states are already under the rule of the
BJP, and we don’t want Karnataka to become the 22nd.”
Denying allegations of intellectuals exclusively supporting the Congress, Shivaramu said, “We are ready to support the JD(S) and other pro-people leaders contesting as Independent candidates. But, in this election, we are against the division of secular voters between Congress and others since it could help BJP return to power in the state. We are ready to support winnable secular candidates from other parties too. But the time is not ripe for it.”
