The failure of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MPs Nalin Kumar Kateel and Shobha Karandlaje in preventing the merger of Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda will lead to their defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, Minister for Water Resources D.K. Shivakumar said here on Monday.
Launching a campaign for Mithun Rai, Congress candidate in Dakshina Kannada, Mr. Shivakumar said that the two MPs have failed to take any action to prevent the merger of Vijaya Bank.
More than other MPs, Mr. Shivakumar said, Mr. Kateel, Ms. Karandlaje and Union Minister D.V. Sadananada Gowda, who hail from the region, know how dear the bank was for the people here.
“When it (Vijaya Bank) merged with Bank of Baroda, these three MPs should have resigned,” he said and referred to resignation by five MPs from YSR Congress in April 2018 when the Union government refused to give special category status to Andhra Pradesh. “Self-pride is more important. But these three stuck to power,” he said.
District in-charge Minister U.T. Khader asked party activists to work tirelessly in the next 17 days at the booth level and ensure the victory of Mr. Rai. The former MLAs B. Ramanath Rai and Vasanth Bangera spoke.
Mr. Shivakumar and other Congress leaders took part in a rally from Ayyappa Temple to the ground near Ambedkar Bhavan where the public meeting was held.