JD(S) and Congress held a joint campaign meeting in Arsikere on Friday to exhibit unity and seek votes in favour of Prajwal Revanna. H.D. Revanna, Minister for Public Works; B. Shivaramu, former Congress Minister; K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, Arsikere MLA; and others shared the dais.
Mr. Shivaramu, addressing the workers, said all these years both parties had fought against each other. The time had come to face the Lok Sabha polls together. “It is true we have differences. Congress workers have suffered a lot in recent days. But, we have to fight against communal forces. The JD(S) leaders have to convince supporters,” he said. He appealed to Mr. H.D. Revanna to take Congress workers into confidence even after the elections.
On BJP candidate A. Manju, Mr. Shivaramu said he got elected to the Assembly twice on Congress ticket. “If he had won the Assembly election last year, do you think he would have gone to the BJP now?” he questioned.
Mr. Revanna, while appealing to Congress workers to support the JD(S) candidate, requested them to forgive leaders of his party for the mistakes.
“Forgive us, if there were any mistakes from our side,” he said. “Both parties have to fight against the BJP in all 28 constituencies to register a victory. The BJP has no moral right to seek votes in Hassan as the party has done nothing for the district. He also added that for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had been his leader since his days in the Janata Dal.
Objections raised
Meanwhile, a few Congress workers raised objections to the alliance and said they would support the BJP.
They maintained that they would not vote for the JD(S) candidate. Senior leaders of the party pacified them.