Mysuru: Ruling out a connection between drought and political fortunes, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Sunday that it was finally the opinion of people which matters. He ruled out early elections to the state Assembly as was being speculated and said they would be held on schedule in April-May next year.
“Yet, we effectively faced the drought last year, this year luckily, we have received good rains and people have a good opinion about us, they have confidence in us. The Assembly elections will be held as scheduled in April or May next year, we will surely win the majority of seats and will come to power again, there is no doubt about it,” he asserted.
The CM was reacting to a question from mediapersons at Mysuru airport, here on Sunday. He said, “We have already begun election work, I had been to Mandya last week, I will be going to Ballari on September 12."
Speaking on the continuing rains, he said, “It is good for farmers, it helps them irrigate their fields, their cattle will get fodder and the drinking water problem will be solved. . But we did not get good rains in June and July, sowing happens during that period, so it led to crop loss at some places. Cloud seeding has started, if these rains are due to that or not, does not matter, it’s raining and that’s what is important. We can’t say there is no drought situation in the state, at some places, it has rained less,” he said.
Reacting to allegations by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders that the havoc due to rain in Bengaluru was because of the inefficiency of the Congress in improving the drainage system, the Chief Minister said, “They could have done it when they were in power. There are 800 km of storm water drains. Many have encroached on them, some have built houses on them. But they did nothing. We have begun the work to clear encroachments on storm water drains. We have taken up work on 400km of storm water drains. Bengaluru has recorded the highest rainfall in the past ten years, city development minister K.J. George is visiting the rain-hit places and taking necessary measures. The families of three people who died in the rain havoc in Bengaluru will be given compensation,” he said.
On the issue of having bank exams in Kannada language, the Chief Minister said, “Those who work in Karnataka must know Kannada to interact with people here. So we will write a letter in this regard to the concerned authorities. Authorities of Kannada Abhivrudhdhi Pradhikara have met the authorities.”
With hardly ten days left for the Dasara festivities to begin, the CVM reacted to queries on the delay in work related to filling potholes on important roads in Mysuru and said, “We have given the highest amount of funds to Mysuru city compared to the funds allotted by other governments. We will issue directions to speed up the work.”
