Siddaramaiah to Congressmen: Stand by me, let’s win the BBMP polls
Bengaluru: With BBMP polls round the corner, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday appealed to leaders and legislators of the ruling party to stand by him and ensure the party’s victory in forthcoming elections.
Quoting Mr Siddaramaiah’s opening and concluding remarks at a meeting of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) here, a senior leader disclosed that the Chief Minister sought the cooperation of all leaders to capture power in the city civic body. He requested them to refrain from making any controversial statements that will harm the party’s prospects and repeat the performance notched in elections to Gram Panchayats, the leader added.
The leader also pointed out that the Chief Minister made an oblique reference to the letter sent to him housing minister M. H. Ambreesh during the legislature session in Belagavi, and asked party leaders not to shoot off any letter which could trigger unnecessary controversies ahead of BBMP elections.
The leader stated that some legislators led by K. B. Koliwad lashed out at agriculture minister, Krishna Byre Gowda, on his inability to handle farmers’ suicides effectively. “Being a minister, Mr Gowda should have travelled extensively in the state apart from convening meetings at district headquarters where farmers committed suicide in large numbers. He did not visit the family of a single farmer who committed suicide,” they alleged.
In addition, they pointed out that Mr Siddaramaiah should have taken steps to release arrears to sugarcane farmers instead of fixing deadlines for such payments. “Such immediate relief would have helped the party improve its image in the eyes of people,” the leader added.
Responding to such complaints, Mr Krishna Byre Gowda retorted that he was working earnestly but due to unforeseen circumstances, the state witnessed a sudden spurt in the number of suicides.
Mr. Koliwad reportedly suggested that the CM should take steps to offer co-operative society’s membership to all poor farmers in order to free them from the shackles of private money lenders. Besides, Mr Koliwad also suggested that the kin of those who committed suicide must get benefits of ‘Anna Bhagya’ and several other schemes that would help them at times of distress. “Offering compensation is one aspect but in the long run these steps will be more helpful than offering just compensation,” he added.
