Hassan: Congress workers’ aversion to work with JD(S) activists was evident at a joint JD(S)-Congress workers’ meeting at Halli Mane at Arasikere in Hassan district on Friday after a few Congress workers took on JD(S) leader and Public Works Minister H.D. Revanna, who was on the dais.
A joint meeting was attended by Mr Revanna, JD(S) MLA Shivalinge Gowda, former minister and Congress MLC Gopalaswamy and Congress leader B. Shiva ram. A section of Congress workers told the leaders that they faced atrocity at the hands of Mr Revanna, and that none of them have got any representation in various district-level boards and corporations. Soon, others too joined and shouted slogans against Mr Revanna.
The protesting Congress workers said that Mr Revanna has approached them only to help his son, Prajwal, win the Lok Sabha election, and has no intention of taking Congress workers into confidence.
Congress leaders were quick to cover up the issue saying the protesting workers were earlier with the Congress, but have now joined the BJP. After getting down from the stage, Mr Revanna told the gathering that he will take everybody along. Some Congress leaders said that at the behest of Mr Revanna, false cases have been foisted against them at police stations. In some cases, their family members, who are in government service, have been transferred from Hassan to far off places.
Sources in Arasikere and Channarayaptana, where the JD(S) has sitting MLAs, said that Congress workers are working for A. Manju, who quit Congress recently to contest the Lok Sabha poll from the BJP.
In the other assembly constituencies of Hassan too, Congress workers are unwilling to campaign for the JD(S) nominee and prefer BJP. Many of them are working behind the scenes.
Sources said that Congress supporters, especially from minority communities, are planning to press the None Of The Above (NOTA) button, instead of backing the either JD(S) or BJP.
