From Our Special Correspondent

Daijiworld Media Network

Kalaburgi, Dec 1: All the senior Congress leaders in the State will be launching Kalyana Karnataka development yajna from December 10, which marks the decade since the grant of special status by incorporating Article 371(J) in the Constitution.

AICC President Mallikarjuna Kharge, AICC General Secretary and State in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, KPCC Chief D K Shivakumar, Congress opposition leader in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, M B Patil, Ishwar Khandre and other leaders will be participating in the yajna with new determination to provide a better deal and jobs for the people of the region.

Addressing the media along with Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and other leaders, Surjewala said the ruling BJP had neglected the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes as well minorities and now just before the assembly elections, the Basavaraj Bommai regime has suddenly woken up to increase the reservation for SC/STs and hurriedly got an ordinance passed.

Increasing the reservation quota for SC/STs merely on paper will not help, Surjewala said and pointed out that without a Constitutional amendment it will not be implemented. The State Government’s request for increasing the reservation quota for SC/STs will be thrown in the dust bin by the Narendra Modi regime, Surjewala claimed.

The Congress, however, had shown its commitment for the poor and downtrodden through its various pro-poor and people-oriented initiatives and took an historical decision to give special status to the backward Kalyana Karnataka region and introducing Article 371(J) benefits.

Surjewala attacked the BJP governments in the States and the Centre for paying lip service to the oppressed classes and even withdrawing the scholarships given to the SC/ST students from I to 8th Standard students since the last several decades. It is clear that the BJP does not want children from SC/ST and minority communities to study and come up in life, he said attacking the attempts to deprive the right of education for these sections.

BJP is more interested in raking up emotive issues and playing with the lives of the people while Congress is striving to build their lives, Surjewala said urging partymen to unitedly work for the defeat of BJP.

Surjewala, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar said it was the efforts of Kharge and former Chief Minister Dharam Singh that resulted in the grant of special status and inclusion of Article 371(J) for the development of Kalyana Karnataka on December 10.