Winning Karnataka: You dream, KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar tells BJP
Bengaluru: Don’t even think of making Karnataka ‘Congress Mukt,’ said KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar, poking fun at the BJP’s grand claims and added that this was too difficult a dream to implement in a state where the party is still very strong.
Participating in a Meet the press programme on Sunday, he said, “The Congress has lost ground to some extent but when our vote share is analysed, it is difficult to write us off.”
On whether he would be the first Dalit CM in the state post the 2018 Assembly election, Dr Parameshwar replied: “There is a convention that the PCC president is made CM, but people rejected me in Koratagere where I contested in 2013. When some members of the Dalit community started feeling the need for a Dalit CM, everyone started saying it was a game being played by me. There are many prominent Dalit leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge,'' he reminded.
"The Congress is an ideology-based party, working for the poor and deprived classes. Recently, there has been a surge in the fortunes of the BJP as well as regional parties which have become strong in many states. The Congress has lost ground to some extent but when the vote share of the party is analysed in consecutive elections, it is difficult to write us off," he said.
Admitting that Karnataka was very important and a large state under Congress rule, Dr Parameshwar said the party had regained Punjab recently and was in power in some small states too. In Karnataka, the Congress has been implementing good programmes which have contributed to the state's development. When Mr S.M. Krishna was Chief Minister, the outlay in his last budget in 2004 was only '28,000 crore, today, it has grown to '1.8 lakh crore. Besides, the mid-day meal scheme of the state, which was criticised initially, has become a national programme.
Answering a question on the future of the Congress at the national level if it failed to come back to power in Karnataka, Dr Parameshwar said he was not thinking about this situation. “We are studying the anti-incumbency factor and comparing it with the previous BJP government's record. We will get more than our current 124 seats," he said
Taking a dig at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, he said Narendra Modi had woven a dream for the country in 2014, which was bought by all youth. All they wanted was a job and a peaceful life. After three years, the situation is disappointing and unemployment is growing. "Agriculture universities have no money for research and for functioning. The government is not even assuring a fair price for the farmers' crop and the future of agriculture looks bleak," he said.
No one understands the basic purpose of demonetisation either, he said.
