BJP-run Karnataka govt is country's most corrupt: Rahul Gandhi
Bengaluru, Apr 1: Setting the mood for Assembly elections in Karnataka due next year, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday exhorted party leaders in the State to work together, as he set an ambitious target to win a minimum of 150 seats.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to speak about corruption in his election rallies, but the country's "most corrupt government" is in Karnataka, run by the BJP.
Gandhi said the Congress will win in Karnataka with a huge majority in the 225-member assembly, and will form a government that will work for poor, weaker sections, small traders , small and medium businesses, and take the state on the "right path once again".
"We are faced with an election in Karnataka, and Karnataka has always had the spirit of the Congress party. This is a natural Congress state," Gandhi said.
Addressing Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee's extended executive meeting here, he said, "We should be very clear in our mind that we are going to get not less than 150 seats. So we should start our calculations."
Noting that winning a minimum 150 seats is not a difficult task, Gandhi said, this is actually quite an easy one for Congress, if the party gets together, fights together in a united way, fights on the right issues and if it guarantees merit as the criteria for candidates, leaders and workers.
He said it is very important to promote people based on the service they have done for the party, instead of promoting those based on likes and dislikes.
"....we should be absolutely ruthless with this idea. I don't think we should be deciding tickets based on past history, what a person has done 20 years ago. I think we should be basing tickets on the work the person is doing for the party today," he said, adding that loyal, good representatives of the party, must be protected and rewarded.
This is the first visit of the top Congress leader to the State as it prepares for the assembly elections, amid speculations that early polls is also a possibility.
Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, state Congress president D K Shivakumar, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah were among a host of senior leaders present at the event.
Gandhi in his address called on Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Kharge and other senior leaders to fight the election unitedly.
"The most important thing is all of you must fight together, it is your biggest responsibility, you are already fulfilling it, but it has to be more intense. You should all together make Congress win 150 seats," he told them.
"We should not fight an election to make it a close election. We should fight the election to make it a decisive victory for the Congress party, minimum of 150 seats, not one less than that," he said, adding that there is not much time for elections and that he would travel in the state in the days to come.
Noting that unemployment, economic collapse, inflation were the biggest issues before the country, the Congress leader said, note ban, wrong GST and farm laws have caused damage to the country and the situation today is such that even if BJP government wants, they can't provide jobs as they have destroyed small and medium businesses.
"India today is not in a position to provide jobs for its youth, this has caused the biggest damage for the country and will cause much bigger damage in the days to come," he said.
Hitting out at the BJP government in the state, Gandhi said, it is not a legitimately elected government, as it was formed using financial resources and subterfuge.
He said: "Today if Modi comes to Karnataka and speaks about corruption and wants to fight against it, people might laugh. The BJP government here is known for 40 per cent (commission)....contractors are saying it and not Congress. Modi speaking on corruption is a joke, he cannot speak on the issue anywhere in the country," he said.
BJP's aim is to snatch money or resources of the poor and transfer it to two or three big businessmen, and it is basically a "financial transfer mechanism system", he said, adding that, "their method is to divide the country, create fear, which we call polarisation."
Gandhi said, Congress' responsibility is to raise real issues like jobs, setting right the economy, and bringing together different sections of the society. "They (BJP) divide, we unite....we should do this in Karnataka also."
Complimenting the state Congress unit for enrolling more than 60 lakh members into the party and most of them youth, he said, during the upcoming elections youth and women should be the focus of the party, whether it is in ticket distribution or in the organisation.
He also interacted with some party functionaries, connected to the event virtually, who had made maximum number of membership enrolments.
BJP’s Karnataka Model of Corruption
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
