“There is no Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or Modi wave in the country,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has said.
Addressing a press conference at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters after taking part in a roadshow from Killippalam to East Fort here on Tuesday for Shashi Tharoor, the United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate for Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Shivakumar said the BJP had replaced 100 sitting MPs with new faces for the Lok Sabha elections. “If the BJP were strong, would such a situation have risen, including in Karnataka,” he said.
‘Not accepted’
He said he had travelled to different parts of the country and knew its mood. The BJP had tried to divide people along communal and caste lines, but the people had not accepted it. “The INDIA bloc will form the government at the national level under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
He said he was thankful to the people in the State for giving Mr. Gandhi an opportunity to contest from Wayanad. With their love and support, Mr. Gandhi would give sleepless nights to all BJP leaders, he said.
Mr. Shivakumar, who is the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, pointed out that the BJP had not given seats to sitting Ministers in Karnataka, including BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who had represented Karnataka so far.
He questioned the contribution of Mr. Chandrasekhar to Kerala. “If Kerala is his motherland, he should have supported it. He could have brought IT companies to Kerala and created at least two lakh jobs here of the two crore jobs promised by the Prime Minister. “IT students in Kerala are going to Bengaluru, Delhi, and across the globe. He could have seen to it that they are still here.”
Referring to Mr. Chandrasekhar’s claim of standing for politics of development, Mr. Shivakumar asked if the former had laid the foundation stone for even one development project in Kerala. If so, he should disclose it.
Chandrasekhar’s contribution
He said he did not want to go into personal things such as the income of Mr. Chandrasekhar, but only wanted to know what his contribution to development of Kerala or Karnataka was. After being denied a Rajya Sabha seat, anyone with ethics would have resigned. “Why is he still continuing as Minister,” asked Mr. Shivakumar.
Mr. Tharoor was a vibrant politician whose contributions during his tenure as MP were something to be proud of. He has a mass following, very knowledgeable, and oratorical skills, he said. “I’m sure the people of Thiruvananthapuram will elect him with a thumping majority. The entire State should look to Mr. Tharoor and the Congress.”
Earlier, speaking ahead of Mr. Tharoor’s roadshow, Mr. Shivakumar urged the people not to vote for the Left Democratic Front (LDF). It had destroyed the image of the State and its financial sector. Voting for the LDF would be a vote for the BJP, he said.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal also took part in the roadshow to seek votes for Mr. Tharoor.
