KALABURAGI: The wordy duel between between senior leader Malikayya Guttedar, who recently quit the Congress to join the BJP, and Minister for IT and BT Priyank Kharge has taken a nasty turn with the former reiterating that Mr Priyank is “a bacha” (immature kid) and challenging him to get re-elected from Chittapur that Mr Priyank had won in 2013.
Mr Guttedar, who arrived at the party office here on Thursday for the first time after joining the BJP in Delhi, was received by party’s Rural District President Doddappa Gowda Patil and other leaders. During his interaction with the media, Mr Guttdar attacked Mr Priyank and his father Mallikarjun Kharge. Reacting to the challenge posed to him by Mr Priyank to get elected from Afzalpur again, the six time MLA, Mr Guttedar retorted, “he is a bacha in politics. Instead of challenging me, let him focus on getting elected from Chittapur. My victory is a foregone conclusion, no leader can prevent it, leave alone Priyank”.
On the allegation that Mr Guttedar had turned against his father, Mallikarjun Kharge after securing political favours from him, Mr Guttedar retorted, “Can Kharge senior deny that he had not sought support from my father for getting ministerial berths in the Congress government?. My father (Venkaya Guttedar) was a kingmaker and Mr Kharge used to linger around our residence. It was because of my father’s intervention that Mr Kharge got a berth in the Bangarappa Cabinet. Mr Priyank is a kid but he is behaving like a super CM because of the power he has due to his father’s the blessings”, Mr Guttedar said.
Alleging that the Congress has been destroyed by its selfish leaders, he said the party would be wiped out in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region in the coming elections. “Because of nepotism, a senior leader like me was not allowed to become minister. I did not crave for a ministerial berth, but had sought due recognition for my seniority. What was wrong in it?”, he said. Mr Guttedar will file nomination papers on April 20.
