Kalaburagi: Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday took an oblique swipe at former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, who has resigned from the primary membership of the party claiming he felt neglected by it.
Asked by reporters for his response to senior Congress leaders like Kumar Bangarappa and Jayaprakash Hegde deciding to desert the Congress because they were reportedly not getting their due from it, he contended the issue was not about senior or junior leaders feeling neglected by the party.
“The party will use the services of those who are relevant to it. Those whose services are not made use of need to introspect on their contribution to the growth of the party. These so-called big leaders should realise that they became big due to the power and positions given to them by the party. After having enjoyed power all their lives, they should be indebted to it and concerned about strengthening it instead of trying to weaken it by levelling charges against some individuals,” he said in an oblique reference to Mr Krishna.
Agreeing with CM Siddaramaiah that the Modi government was using the I-T department to conduct raids on select Congress leaders, he said, “The CM was right in wanting to know if BJP leaders are BPL cardholders and own no property. The raids are conducted on select Congress leaders to browbeat them and divert attention from demonitisation, which has totally failed in its objective.” As for Home Minister Dr G Parameshwar’s statement that Kalaburagi would not get a police commissionerate, he said that the announcement about establishing it had been made in the budget by the Chief Minister himself. “It’s not proper to go back on a commitment. When police commissionerates have been established in Belagavi, Davangere, Mangaluru and other places in the state why not in Kalaburagi, which is the divisional headquarters?” he said.
