Ex-min pitches for Hariprasad as home minister

Mangaluru: Congress leader and former minister K Abhayachandra Jain on Friday urged the party to appoint senior party leader and MLC BK Hariprasad as the district minister for Dakshina Kannada and also give him the home minister portfolio in order to revive the party’s fortunes in the coastal region. Jain told reporters here on Friday, that a strong leadership is the need of the hour for Congress in Dakshina Kannada.
“We have a lack of leadership here. We need strong leaders like M Veerappa Moily, B Janardhana Poojary and Oscar Fernandes. The national and state leaders of the party should take note of it. Hariprasad is a three-time Rajya Sabha member and has many years of experience in politics. He should be made the home minister of the state and the district minister for Dakshina Kannada. We need harmony and development in the district,” said Jain.
On UT Khader, who was the district minister earlier, Jain said that the soft-spoken leader also should get an important portfolio.
“Since Hariprasad is not an MLA, he will not restrict himself to one constituency. He will be able to focus on all eight assembly constituencies in the district. Further, he will take tough decisions as he is a strong leader,” Jain said.
‘Hindutva helped BJP
win seats’
On the election results, Jain said that Congress could not perform well in coastal districts due to the impact of Hindutva. “BJP has nothing worth mentioning as their achievement. However, Hindutva helped them win seats. They have made politics of dividing the society their asset. A future awaits the BJP when they will have only two seats each in the Lok Sabha and Karnataka assembly,” he said.
On the five guarantees of Congress, Jain said he will not sit quiet if it is not implemented by the government.