Bengaluru: In bid to wrest the Mahalakshmi Layout Assmbly seat from disqualified MLA Mr Gopalaiah, JD(S) supremo Mr H.D. Deve Gowda has decided to visit the constituency every week to strengthen the party in the constituency.
Mr Gopalaiah, a two-time MLA is one of the three JD(S) MLAs, who joined hands with the BJP to topple the coalition government and got disqualified. Mahalakshmi Layout is one of the two city constituencies which the JD(S) was able to win mainly because of the popularity of the candidate.
At the first party workers' meeting in the constituency after Mr Gopalaiah quit, Mr Gowda chose not to react to the government handing over the telephone tapping case to the CBI and concentrated on attacking Mr Gopalaiah himself. Stating that Mr Gopalaiah had grown financially, he called upon party workers not to be lured by his offerings.
“He requested me to make his wife Deputy Mayor and I did. Later, she was made chairperson of one or the other BBMP committee and presently, she heads the Finance Committee. By joining hands with the BJP, he wants to make his wife Mayor. Our party may not have the financial clout he has, but we have workers. I will personally visit the constituency every week and tour every ward to ensure his defeat,'' Mr Gowda said.
Though Mahalakshmi layout is a Vokkaliga dominated constituency, the JD(S) had never won the constituency till Mr Gopalaiah was fielded.
Mr Gopalaiah was also a student of former JD(S) legislator Mr Y.S.V. Datta. “He came to me saying that he was from a poor background and I gave him free tution. I helped him get a job as attender with then minister Mr P.G.R. Sindhia. Today, it is surprising to know that he is worth several crores. He has not only betrayed his party but his teacher also,'' he added.
Reacting sharply to the state government handing over the telephone tapping scandal to CBI for an investigation, JD(S) Rajya Sabha member Mr Kupendra Reddy urged the Union government to hand over the telephone tapping done by them during the recent Lok Sabha elections also to the central agency. Speaking at the party meeting, Mr Reddy claimed that during the parliament election, the IT department used to conduct raids every five minutes.
How did they get information? Are they gods? I will raise the issue in Parliament and demand that all telephone tapping scandals should be probed by the CBI,'' he added.
