‘Jaffer Sharief not first to rebel, won’t be last’
Bengaluru: There are many who believe that veteran Congressman Jaffer Sharief’s exit from the Congress will impact its poll prospects but not former chief minister S.M. Krishna.
Replying to a question on the Jaffer Sharief episode while addressing reporters on Wednesday, Mr Krishna dismissed Mr Sharief’s rebellion as insignificant.
“Many stalwarts like Acharya Kripalani and Jayaprakash Narayan left the Congress. Did anything happen to the party? The Congress has an inherent resilience which has helped the party bounce back. It is not dependent on any one individual,” he said.
Replying to another question on differences between Congress leaders leading to the delay in the launch of the party campaign, Mr Krishna said, “This is bound to happen in every election. Once we tighten the bolts and finetune the engine, the vehicle will run smoothly.”
According to him, the achievements of the UPA government at the Centre and those of the Siddaramaiah government would be highlighted while seeking votes.
Asked if the absence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was indicative of discord between the chief minister and others, Dr Parameshwar said, “There are no differences between us. The Chief Minister is on a tour.”
Mr Krishna described the so called Modi wave as a propaganda by ‘vested interests’ and took a jibe at the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate for sidelining senior leaders.
“We have seen those (Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi) waves. They were natural waves which emanated from the hearts of people. But here, the wave which has been created by ‘vested interests’ is only to be talked and written about, but on the ground, we do not see any wave (of Modi),” he remarked.
On the delay in announcing a candidate for Varanasi where Narendra Modi is the BJP candidate, he said: “The Congress will announce the candidate. According to the calendar of events, Karnataka elections are going to held in the earlier phase and elections in Uttar Pradesh are going to be held at a later date, so there is plenty of time”.
Mr Krishna alleged that lands of farmers had been given to companies like Adani at ‘questionable prices’ in Gujarat.
“The kind of land deals in Gujarat, they are just mindboggling. Thousands of acres of land have been given away to Adani and others for industrial hubs. When you see the price, you will feel sorry for the farmers of Gujarat,” he charged.
Asked whether the Congress is in good position to capitalise on differences in the top BJP leadership, Mr Krishna said, “That will be known on May 16 (counting day).”
