PM Modi coming to K'taka as polls draw near, what's his contribution: Siddaramaiah
Belagavi, Nov 7: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bengaluru on November 11, senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday questioned Modi's contributions to Karnataka and said the latter was visiting the State because Assembly election is fast approaching.
Questioning his silence over allegations of corruption against the BJP government in the State, the former Chief Minister asked what was the slogan "Na Khaunga, Na Khane Doonga (neither will I indulge in corruption nor allow anyone else to indulge in it) for?"
"Modi says there is a double-engine government in Karnataka, but what has he done? When there were floods, he did not come, did not hear out the woes of the people. Now, with the elections are nearing, he is coming," Siddaramaiah said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "What has he (PM) done regarding price rise, unemployment. Hate politics increased after he came to power. What has he done to fulfil the promise of doubling farmers' income. Not even 10 per cent of promises made by the BJP in Karnataka have been implemented."
Alleging that Modi did not take any action against the '40 per cent commission allegation against the BJP government in Karnataka' despite a letter to him from the State contractors' association seeking action, the Congressman asked, "What is then the slogan Na Khaunga, Na Khane Doonga for?"
Modi is to visit the State on November 11 to attend various functions like the inauguration of the second terminal of the Kempegowda International Airport, second terminal, unveiling of a 108-foot statue of Bengaluru founder Nada Prabhu Kempegowda, and flagging off of the Chennai-Mysuru 'Vande Bharat' train, among others.
Seeming to be undecided over the constituency from where he would be contesting the 2023 Assembly polls in Karnataka, the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly indicated that he may not contest from his current seat - Badami. "There is pressure on me to contest from Badami, thousands of women there have threatened to sit in front of my house to put pressure on me, they have written a letter.
The reason I'm thinking so much is because, I will not be able to be there in the constituency once a week, will not be able to meet workers on a daily basis and listen to issues and resolve them, as I will have other work," said Siddaramaiah.
He said, "People are asking me to contest, but my conscience tells me not to; it has been two months since I have been to Badami. I planned to go there tomorrow (Tuesday), but cancelled it, as I've other work."
There is also pressure to contest from Kolar, he said, "My son (Varuna MLA Yathindra Siddaramaiah) is asking me to contest from Varuna (Siddaramaiah had earlier represented the seat), and Chamrajpet MLA Zmeer Ahmed Khan is asking me to contest from his...from where should I contest, our party will decide."
Siddaramaiah has made it clear that he would not contest from Chamundeshwari. As the then sitting chief minister, he lost the 2018 polls in Chamundeshwari to JD(S) G T Deve Gowda by 36,042 votes.
He, however, won Badami, the other constituency from where he had contested and defeated B Sriramulu (BJP) by 1,696 votes.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
