Telangana Congress leaders began their campaign in the Karnataka elections with TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy asking people to elect the Congress that is headed by the ‘Karnataka son’ Mallikarjun Kharge.
When Home Minister Amit Shah played the self-respect sentiment on the Gujaratis to vote for BJP in the Assembly elections since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was from Gujarat, what prevented people of Karnataka to vote for Congress that is headed by Mr. Kharge at the national level, he asked. He was addressing public meetings in Bidar, Bhalki, Basavakalyan and Humnabad areas on Tuesday.
Mr. Reddy said the BJP hatched a conspiracy to defeat Mr. Kharge in the last Parliament elections using the CBI and ED. A leader who never lost an election in his life was targeted and defeated but it was time for the Kannadigas to take revenge and ensure that the Congress was voted back to power under the leadership of Mr. Kharge. As an MLA, MP, and Union Minister, Mr. Kharge played a crucial role in the development of Karnataka and it was time to repay the gratitude, he said.
Mr. Reddy said Congress was bound to come back with 150 seats and no effort of the BJP through its agencies can stop the Congress juggernaut. He accused the BJP of reducing governance to ‘40% commission’ and this was how the neighbouring states were discussing the last five years of BJP rule. If they were voted the commission would be increased to 50%, he alleged.
Playing on the sentiment of Telangana, he said the Hyderabad-Karnataka region was a part of the Hyderabad state where Telangana also existed and they shared common history and culture. That bond should continue to ensure that Mr. Kharge’s team won in Karnataka. AICC Secretary and incharge for Karnataka D. Sridhar Babu was also present.
