Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 25: Former Karnataka chief minister, S M Krishna, said that he was going through mental turmoil when in Congress. Speaking after reaching the city for the first time after embracing BJP, Krishna, who reached BJP office at Malleshwaram directly from the airport on Friday March 24, launched a scathing attack on Congress.

"BJP is the only disciplined party in the country. I was in Congress for 46 long years. I have already said why I had to leave that party, and the decision to desert the party was not taken overnight. Uttar Pradesh election result was never a reason for my decision. I met BJP national president, Amit Shah, nine months back and discussed with him my proposal to join BJP. I was considering an alternative party to which I could shift my allegiance. The positive shift in the situation across the country under Modi's leadership attracted me towards BJP," he explained.

Krishna said that demonetisation is an exercise that can be implemented by only daredevil persons. "Surgical strikes too prove that Modi is a man with conviction and courage. I bow to BJP which has made 43-year-old Yogi Adityanath the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. This makes it amply clear that dynastic politics has no place in BJP," he added.

Referring to scathing attack made by Congress leader, Mallikarjun Kharge, against him, Krishna asked Kharge to confine himself to what he is doing rather than sticking his nose in the affairs of others. "There is no comparison of the experience and age of Kharge with the age and experience of Rahul Gandhi. Because of such policies owned by senior leaders of Congress, the party has gone off the tracks. Mahatma Gandhi had advised the concerned to dissolve Congress. Now it is happening on its own," he remarked.

Krishna volunteered to campaign for Nanjangud and Gundlupet assembly bypolls, adding that it is his duty too. He said he knows about the power and substance of Srinivas Prasad. He criticized the concerned for not showing the courtesy of keeping him informed before removing Prasad from the state ministry, recalling that he too had been ousted from external affairs ministry unceremoniously.

Addressing the gathering, former Karnataka chief minister, B S Yeddyurappa, felt that Krishna's joining has come as a big bonanza to the party's efforts to achieve Congress-free nation. He predicted the Uttar Pradesh result to get replicated in the state.

On his arrival, the former chief minister was received at the airport by BJP leaders. At the BJP office, Krishna was given a rousing reception by BJP cadres who garlanded him, burst firecrackers, even as music band played. Former minister, R Ashoka, Basavaraj Bommai, B Somashekhar, Ramachandra Gowda, Aravind Limbavali and others were present.