New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday said internal efforts are on in the party to reorganise and strengthen it and former Union Minister S.M. Krishna could have waited for the results to come out in the Karnataka elections next year.
Congress spokesperson Prof. Rajeev Gowda also accused the BJP of poaching its leaders with a clean image.
"If he had waited for little more time, he would have realised that there is lot of internal effort that is going on for reorganising the party, revitalising the party. Karnataka would have been a wonderful example of how we are going to not just reorganise and strengthen the party but also deliver results which will change the momentum just like Punjab had delivered a vote of confidence in Congress," he said
"Krishna would have seen the impact of these changes and we could have used his advice and experience as well," he said and added that the Congress had given him everything except the positions of President, Vice President and PM. "There is a possibility that these are positions on offer," he said.
"In Karnataka, the BJP is looking for a fig leaf; who are their leaders? Their leaders are jailbirds and people who have a tremendously horrible reputation in front of the people of Karnataka - Shri Yeddyuruppa has been to jail, Shri Janardan Reddy has come out of jail and who else?” Mr Gowda remarked.
With SMK on our side, will win all seats in Bengaluru: BSY
Once again exulting that the entry of veteran leader and former chief minister S.M. Krishna was a big plus for his party, state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday declared that its victory in all the assembly seats in Bengaluru in the 2018 poll was now most certain.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru before heading for campaigning in Gundulpet, he said he would personally welcome Mr Krishna into the party at a huge event at its office in Bengaluru and request him to participate in three or four rallies in both Gundlupet and Nanjangud in the run-up to the bypolls.
"The atmosphere is right for the victory of BJP candidates in Nanjangud and Gundlupet. We are confident our candidates will win in both," he asserted.
Referring to the agitation by anganwadi workers for a pay hike, he regretted that the state government had failed to resolve their problems. "It has also failed to handle the drought or take a clear stand on waiving off farmers' loans. It has become a habit with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to blame the Centre for all the state's problems," he said.
Refusing to comment on the demand by legislators in both Houses of the state legislature to bring in measures to regulate the media, he merely observed that in a democracy, the legislature, the executive, the judiciary and the press were all important. "All four should be complementary to each other," he added.
Meanwhile, both the Congress and BJP candidates, Dr Geetha Kumari and Niranjankumar respectively, were greeted by people carrying empty pots in a couple of villages of Gundlupet which is in the grip of an acute drinking water crisis.
