Accusing BJP candidate from Kalaburagi Lok Sabha Constituency Umesh Jadhav of betraying and backstabbing the Congress, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called Mr. Jadhav ‘two-faced’.
Addressing a public rally at Konchavaram village in Chincholli taluk in support of Subhash Rathod, the Congress candidate from Chincholi Assembly constituency on Friday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said Congress leaders M. Mallikarjun Kharge and former CM late N. Dharam Singh introduced Mr. Jadhav to politics and were instrumental in his victory in the Assembly elections, but Mr. Jadhav had failed to prove his loyalty to the Congress – that has given him an eventful political career.
He alleged that Mr. Jadhav had failed in meeting the expectations of the people in the constituency and was now only interested in securing his son’s future.
“The Karnataka Tanda Development Corporation and the Banjara Development Authority were established by the Congress government to ensure overall development of the Banjara community; we [Congress] converted tandas into revenue villages,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Referring to the demand to include the Koli community in the Scheduled Tribes (STs) list, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the proposal sent by the previous Congress government favouring the demand was rejected by the Narendra Modi-led Union government twice. Now again the BJP leaders were making ‘false promises’ just for political gains, he said.
The Supreme Court upheld the validity of new Karnataka law, granting reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) government employees. The Congress is committed to the development of backward and weaker sections of society “We [Congress] seek votes in the name of development, whereas the BJP is seeking votes based on nationalism and patriotism,” he added.
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, M.B. Patil, Eshwar Khandre, and party candidate Subhash Rathod also participated in the campaign programme at Inoli, Chimanchod and Kalagi villages.