Bengaluru: The battle of wits between Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and the Opposition BJP continues with the CM daring Union minister for Statistics, D.V. Sadananada Gowda to contest from Varuna constituency from where his son, Dr Yatindra is likely to contest in the 2018 Assembly elections.
Speaking to reporters after garlanding the portrait of late chief minister, S. Nijalingappa in Vidhana Soudha here, Mr Siddaramaiah said, "Why should I be perturbed after he (Mr Gowda) became Mysuru revenue division BJP incharge? He is mistaken. I challenge him to contest against my son, Dr Yatindra in the forthcoming Assembly polls from Varuna."
He added that he would not bother about hoax threats by anyone including Mr Gowda. "Why should Mr Gowda take pains searching for a candidate to field in Varuna, instead, he himself can contest from there," he retorted in response to a question.
He further claimed that Mr Gowda was unaware of the voting pattern in Varuna. “Voters overwhelmingly voted for me and I won by a margin of 32000 votes in Varuna last time,” he reminded Mr Gowda.
Reacting to the Chief Minister's open challenge, Union Minister of statistics and programme implementation, Sadananda Gowda ridiculed the CM's open challenge saying it was akin to a loser running away from the battleground even before the battle begins. "Our party is known for making leaders out of simple party workers. We will surely field a party worker, who will defeat Mr Siddaramaiah's nominees in his own turf," he thundered while reacting to reporters.
He quipped that Mr Siddaramaiah leaving his constituency, Varuna to his son speaks volumes about his fear of losing the elections in 2018.
Ananth: Target 22 of 28 seats in Bengaluru
Union minister for parliamentary affairs Ananth Kumar on Sunday called on party workers to work hard to ensure the party's victory in as many as 22 seats out of 28 Assembly seats in Bengaluru.
Speaking at the Parivartana Rally here, Mr Kumar said, "The time has come for BJP workers to teach a befitting lesson to Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah for whom the arrogance of power has gone into his head. He needs to be taught a lesson by ensuring his party's defeat in Bengaluru."
According to him, if the party wins no less than 22 Assembly seats, it would help the BJP in achieving its mission of 150 seats easily. "BJP state president, B. S. Yeddyurappa who is touring the state must be given adequate support by party workers. He will be the catalyst to bring change in the state by ensuring the party's victory march in 150 seats," he said.
Training his guns on Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, Mr Kumar remarked that the latter has suddenly woken up after a pro-longed sleep of four and half years and was talking about the dream of making Bengaluru an international city. "Mr Siddarmaiah often sleeps and sees a dream, he saw a dream of a steel bridge not for improving city infrastructure but to fill his coffers," he caustically remarked.
