Have an unfinished agenda for the state, make me CM again: HDK

Bengaluru: Two regional satraps – JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda and BSP leader Mayawati – jointly flagged off the campaign for forthcoming elections to the Legislative Assembly here on Saturday with a vituperative attack against leaders of the BJP and Congress for doing precious little in improving the quality of life of Dalits. 

The joint campaign follows a pre-poll alliance with JD (S) agreeing to part with 20 of the 224 Assembly seats to BSP. 

Ms Mayawati charged that the Congress had fooled people with tall promises of uplift of Dalits while cases of atrocities against Dalits were spiralling in BJP ruled states. Dalits would give a fitting reply to leaders of both parties during forthcoming elections in the state, she added 

Mr Deve Gowda lauded Kanshi Ram for launching BSP and for working for the uplift of Dalits. He appealed to voters to elect his son Kumaraswamy as CM  in view of his contribution to overall development of the state during his 20-month rule in alliance with BJP during 2006-2007.

In his speech, Mr Kumaraswamy said: “I have a dream of transforming Karnataka into number one state in terms of overall development. For me, Gujarat is not the model as over 2,000 innocent people were massacred post Godhra incident. My party wants to make all farmers debt-free to help them lead a decent life. My government will waive loans borrowed by farmers, cab and taxi drivers from all public sector banks,” he added. 

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Mr Kumaraswamy said the Chief Minister had taken the JD(S) lightly and the gathering at the rally would demonstrate the real strength of his party. Mr Siddaramaiah had become so arrogant that he had questioned the very existence of JD(S) through which he became the Chief Minister. Time had come to reject both national parties which had totally neglected the needs and aspirations of local populace. 

The JD (S) released a list of candidates for 128 Assembly segments during the rally.