Pics: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SB)
Updated
Bantwal, Oct 22: Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday October 22 took a jibe at the BJP and said that Prime Minister's 'acche din' had come only for the likes of Ambani, Baba Ramdev and BJP president Amit Shah's son Jay Shah. He also termed district in-charge minister Ramanath Rai as a 'gift' to the people of Dakshina Kannada and urged the district to support the Congress as it had in the 2013 Assembly elections.
Addressing a public programme near the new KSRTC bus stand after inaugurating a string of development projects and laying foundation for a new one, the chief minister said, "Today we laid foundation stone for one project and inaugurated other new projects. It is a great achievement for Ramanath Rai (who is also MLA of Bantwal). He is a gift for the people of Bantwal and the district. He has a clean political record and he is a role model to all the politicians. He follows the principles of humanity and secularism. He has never entertained communalism."
In a veiled reference to the BJP and the right wing organizations, Siddaramaiah said, "Communal powers have always been trying to make this district a laboratory of their ideology. But the intelligent people of Dakshina Kannada rejected them in 2013 and give seven seats to us (Congress). We missed one constituency only by a few votes. We urge people to give us the same kind of support in the 2018 elections. We are not asking without any reason like the BJP or in the name of religion. We are asking people to bless us for the development works and the progress this district has achieved.
"Today Bantwal witnessed projects worth a record Rs 250 crore. We can see such development happening in entire Karnataka. We have already fulfilled 155 out of the 156 promises made in the election manifesto. BJP president B S Yeddyurappa only talks about giving sarees and cycles. He has no development work to show on record. The new allegations (against Siddaramaiah and energy minister D K Shivakumar) by the BJP are baseless. Only thieves can make such allegations because of their previous experience.
"'Acche din' (good days) have come only for Ambani, Adani, Ramdev and Amit Shah's son Jay Shah. Yeddyurappa has no answer for their doings," he quipped.
Commenting on the Tipu Jayanti controversy, the CM said, "Ananthkumar Hegde is saying his name should not be printed in the Tipu Jayanti invitation. He is not following the Constitution. His letter shows he is against the Indian Constitution. Later MP Shobha Karandlaje also said the same thing. But when she was in KJP she celebrated Tipu Jayanti. Now how can she say this? Jagadish Shetter has written the preface of a history book on Tipu. Do they have anything to say on all this?"
"Do not fall into the trap of BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal. Beware of them. They are trying to break unity among the people," he said.
Energy minister D K Shivakumar said, "Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are role models in terms of development. All the MLAs here are putting in full efforts to bring various projects to this district. The people of the coastal region are very intelligent, so they have started comparing the tenures of the BJP and the Congress. BJP did nothing for the people in the state. They gave only fake assurances during their tenure. They started telling lies regarding development. But the people of Karnataka asked for proof and the BJP failed to produce any. Hence the people blessed Congress. Now we are ready to face any question on development and answer critics. We have answers and proofs. Our CM Siddaramaiah has done everything as he promised at the time of elections, and Bantwal is one of the best example of this.
"Development is not limited to one saree or a cycle. Development means welfare of all sections of the society. We have done this. In order to develop the state even more, we need your blessings again. We hope you are with us," he said, addressing the gathering.
District in-charge minister Ramanath Rai said, "I am thankful to the people of Bantwal who gave me the opportunity to lead them as an elected member for the past six terms. I have done my best in my tenure. I have never tried to disrespect anyone. Same way, people too have treated me with respect. I know that people of every section of society and every religion have blessed me. As a Congress worker I have always followed the principles of the party. My party says 'serve society without any expectations'.
"Today I have brought development works worth Rs 252 crore to my constituency. The CM and the government helped me a lot in completing the various projects in my constituency. I am thankful to them," he added.
Minister for food and civil supplies U T Khader commented on the Tipu Jayanti controversy and said, "We are not printing names on invitations of government programmes looking at who is who. We are printing as per the protocoal of our Constitution which is given to us by Dr B R Ambedkar. We are obeying the Constitution. But some people do not have that courtesy. We cannot do anything about them."
Ministers Roshan Baig, Eshwar B Khandre, H C Mahadevappa, T V Jayachandra, Pramod Madhwaraj, MLC Ivan D'Souza, MLAs J R Lobo, Mohiuddin Bava, Abhayachandra Jain, Shakunthala Shetty, K Gopal Poojary, IGP
Hemanth Nimbalkar, police commissioner Sudheer Kumar, DC Sasikanth Senthil and mayor Kavita Sanil were present.
Earlier Report
Bantwal: CM inaugurates Mini Vidhana Soudha, door breaks as Congress workers jostle
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SB)
Bantwal, Oct 22: Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday October 22 inaugurated projects worth Rs 148.29 crore in Bantwal constituency, including the Rs 10 crore Mini Vidhana Soudha at BC Road. He also laid the foundation stone for various projects worth Rs 104.21 crore here.
A large crowd of Congress workers gathered at the spot. They jostled with each other and the police had to use mild lathi charge to disperse them. Notably, minister Pramod opted to remain seated in the vehicle due to the uncontrollable crowd.
The rush was such that the main door of the newly-built Mini Vidhana Soudha broke after party workers tried to enter. The police did not open the door fearing the crowd would barge in. Even MLAs J R Lobo and Shakuntala Shetty were not allowed inside.
Other projects inaugurated by the CM include inspection bungalow (IB) worth Rs 3 crore, KSRTC bus stand worth Rs 10 crore, 100-bed hospital built at a cost of Rs 6.15 crore, Mescom building worth Rs 5.16 crore, drinking water scheme in the municipal limits worth Rs 52.79 crore, a tree park worth Rs 35 lac, and RTO office and building.
He laid the foundation stones for the construction of Kavishishya Panje Mangesh Rao auditorium, Kadeshivalaya - Ajilamogaru Harmony Bridge, multi-village drinking water project and three other development works.