Davanagere (Karnataka), April 4 (IANS) Karnataka BJP president and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra on Saturday claimed that the Congress is set to lose the Davanagere South and Bagalkot seats, and alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is “sleepless” over the prospects of defeat.
Addressing a gathering in Davanagere South, Vijayendra said the atmosphere was favourable for the BJP to win both seats and claimed that the Chief Minister is “confused” about which constituency to focus on.
“Today, the backward classes are moving towards the BJP. People from all sections have resolved to elect our candidate Srinivas Daskariappa,” he said.
He also congratulated state Backward Classes Morcha president Raghu Koutilya and party office-bearers for their efforts in campaigning.
Targeting the Congress, Vijayendra alleged corruption and claimed that funds from the Valmiki Development Corporation were misused and money was being distributed to voters in Davanagere South.
“Our workers are saying, ‘Shamanur’s cash, vote for BJP’. You cannot buy votes with corrupt money. Voters have already decided to elect BJP,” he said.
He further claimed that when B.S. Yediyurappa was Chief Minister, Rs 550 crore was allocated to backward classes corporations, while the present government allocated only Rs 200–250 crore.
Alleging that the Congress treats backward classes as a vote bank, he appealed to voters to support BJP candidate Srinivasadas Kariyappa.
Vijayendra also thanked JD(S) workers for supporting BJP candidates and said Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy was present and backing the campaign.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai challenged the state government to a debate on contributions made by BJP and non-Congress governments to the irrigation sector.
Speaking to the media in Bagalkot, Bommai said he had earlier questioned the introduction of A and B irrigation schemes, claiming such categories do not exist in states like Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh.
“There is only one Krishna scheme. We completed the Mulwad lift irrigation project and the Chimmalagi project,” he said.
He asserted that non-Congress governments, including the BJP, have made significant contributions to irrigation development.
“We implemented the Kerur irrigation project in Siddaramaiah’s Badami constituency and the Revansiddheshwar irrigation project in Vijayapura. We also initiated the lake-filling project,” he added.
Bommai said there is scope to provide adequate water to Bagalkot and challenged the government to debate the contributions of various regimes to the irrigation sector.
–IANS
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