The remarks of Congress MLA H.C. Balakrishna that the five guarantee schemes may have to be reconsidered if the Congress fails to win majority of Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka has triggered a political row with the Opposition BJP terming this as “blackmail politics”.
Mr. Balakrishna, MLA from Magadi, reportedly said while addressing a peoples’ contact programme in his constituency on Tuesday that one would have to come to a conclusion that people are not in favour of guarantees if the Congress did not win majority of seats in the Lok Sabha polls. Hence, the guarantee schemes may have to be reconsidered if so, he had noted. He said that people will have to choose between the politics of “akshathe” (referring to campaign by the BJP around Ram Mandir) and the guarantee schemes. “If despite implementing guarantee schemes people choose ‘akshathe’ then it only means people do not value guarantees,” he said.
Taking exception to the statement, BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra wondered if it was not “blackmail politics”. He told media persons in Chikkamagaluru that people had already lost their faith in guarantee schemes as they were not being implemented properly.
He termed the statement of the Magadi MLA as an indication of the Congress accepting its defeat even before the Lok Sabha polls. “The Congress leaders were earlier under the illusion of winning more than 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State. But there is a pro-BJP wave in the State now like elsewhere in the country particularly after the consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya. The Congress leaders are gripped by fear psychosis,” he alleged.
‘No question of stopping guarantee’
Later in the day, Chief Minister said that guarantees were aimed at helping the poor and “at no cost they will be stopped.” Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said: “Mr. Balakrishna has not given a statement like it is construed. The BJP is the one which is spreading the rumour that guarantee schemes will stop after the election.”
