Bengaluru, October 09: The Congress on Tuesday decided to field Anand Siddu Nyamagouda, son of late Siddu Nyamagouda, as party candidate from Jamkhandi Assembly constituency in the by-poll to be held in November.
At a meeting held at KPCC office here, the Congress leaders have unanimously decided to field Anand from Jamakhandi constituency.
After the meeting, Anand said that he would file his nomination papers on Oct 16. All leaders from the party would be present on that day. The pro-people works done by his father during his tenure in the constituency would help him, he said.
"Whoever may be the candidate against me. I'll win the by-election. The leaders have discussed on the poll strategies in the meeting", he said.
Former minister R.B. Thimma Sagar said that it was discussed on booth and block level responsibilities. Since it was a by-election, everyone should take more responsibility. Ministers and MLAs were given responsibilities. Anand would win the election with huge margin, he said.
By-election was not necessary
There was no need to conduct by-election to three Lok Sabha constituencies which have just six months time. Those who will win the elections would have to go to see the Parliament House. It would be a waste of public money and time, said former minister Kimmane Rathnakar.
More than Rs 600 crore would be spent in one constituency. He wrote letters to the President and the Election Commission against conducting the by-election. But the state BJP leaders have been opposing the by-election as a gimmick, he criticized.
KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao, Working President Eshwar Khandre, State Congress Incharge K.C. Venugopal, CLP Leader and Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister Dr. G. Parameshwar, Water Resources Minister D.K. Shiva Kumar and leaders from Bagalkot were present at the meeting.
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Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The opposition BJP on Wednesday staged a walkout from the Karnataka assembly protesting the alleged "non-disbursal" of two months' installments to 1.26 crore beneficiaries under a woman's assistance scheme of the state government.
The protest followed a heated debate in which the opposition accused the state government of providing "misleading" information regarding the payment status of the flagship Gruha Lakshmi scheme.
The saffron party members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans, leading to the adjournment of the proceedings of the House for over an hour.
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The Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme is one of the five pre-poll promises of the ruling Congress. It provides Rs 2,000 monthly to women heads of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The BJP legislators accused Woman and Child Welfare Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar of having "misled" the House by giving false information to BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai that all the instalments till August have been paid under the scheme.
The opposition charged that the installments for the months of February and March this year were not paid.
The BJP MLAs' grouse was that they had been demanding an explanation from the Minister for the past three days, but she never turned up to provide information.
As soon as the session started, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House demanding the Minister's presence, which led to the adjournment.
When the members assembled again, the Minister replied that this is a unique flagship programme of the Congress government, which is a model for all the states.
Hebbalkar said she always strived to ensure that this scheme is implemented religiously.
"However, when I checked, I noticed that two months' installments were not paid to the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). If my reply has hurt anyone, then I express my regret," she said.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who came to the defence of Hebbalkar, said the BJP should apologise for the lie in the Union Budget.
"Despite the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing Rs 5,300 crore for the Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project in the budget, the money was not given to Karnataka. You should question that as well," Shivakumar underlined.
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To this, Leader of Opposition in the assembly R Ashoka said the matter was raised because not only were the BJP members hurt but also the 1.26 crore beneficiaries who were eagerly waiting for the money.
Demanding that the lie be expunged from the House records, he insisted on a date for when the backlog will be paid to the beneficiaries.
The Minister said she was apologising for giving a wrong reply, but she was peeved at the way a woman was targeted in the House.
Objecting to this statement, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar asked her to refrain from playing victim card and bring up the issue of gender, caste and religious discrimination as it was a matter related to 1.26 crore people.
Ashoka and the BJP MLAs then staged a walkout, saying the Minister's reply was not satisfactory.
