Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network- Mangaluru (VP)
Mangaluru, Feb 15: "The Congress state unit is going to conduct a state-level Congress Convention in Dakshina Kannada district. This programme is being held at Adyar, Sahiyadri College, Mangaluru, on Saturday, February 17. All the work regarding the event is ongoing, and we are hopeful for a successful programme. There is a new wave of excitement among the party members and the people of Mangaluru regarding this event. The people of Mangaluru have always supported the Congress party since the times of Independence. But now, things have changed, and a party with hatred is winning. During the last assembly elections under Siddaramaiah's rule, we secured 7 out of 8 seats. We believe that the Congress party will come back again, and that is our hope. Our party members are united, and they fight against the opposition party in parliament, courtrooms, and other places. Hence, we are holding this event," said Ramanath Rai, former minister at a press meet held on Thursday, February 15 at Congress office.
He further added, "The Congress party has a huge majority and is in power, and the promises that were made have been delivered to the people. The opposition party called the guarantee schemes bogus, and there were many problems from the central government, but our chief minister ensured that the given promise is fulfilled.
"We cannot even acquire the rice even if we are ready to pay for it. There have been many initiatives like this in the past; the ration shops were started by the Congress party. When I was a student at that time, the land reforms were done in Mangaluru, and I remember that a huge chunk of land in a small town would be under 10-15 people, but after land reforms, the numbers went up to 3000 people. And it is all possible because of Indira Gandhi.
“Today, in order to empower women by providing them free bus service along with schemes such as Gruha Laxmi programmes, we are ensuring that women are improving. We might have lost many elections, but we have set an example for great development. In the last budget, we had given more importance to Anna Bhagya Yojana and Ksheera Bhagya Yojana. I request that all citizens understand the history and vote for Congress and join the convention,” he said.
When the media asked questions regarding why Congress lost so many times, especially in Lok Sabha, and what are your future plans, for which the minister said, "Yes, we have won again under the hand symbol; we won in Udupi, and around 11 seats are under Congress. Because of some problems, we are aware that Dakshina Kannada is the most educated district. We will bring young people, and those who work with full dedication will be supported by the party."
The media further questioned the future of Congress in Dakshina Kannada and is there any possibility for him to participate in upcoming elections, for which the minister said, "There are good and well-deserving people in our party, and when work is done with a pure heart and full of dedication, things will be possible. I am a true Congressman, Congress is my religion, and I will never wish any bad for this party. I have stood 9 times for elections from the same party, and for me, that itself is a great achievement."
When questions raised regarding why the people of Congress party damage the reputation of another Congressman, for which the minister explained, "Even when we had lost in elections, we were active, and even in taluk panchayat elections, we are ahead of BJP, we have 17 seats, and the BJP has 8 seats at Bantwal, and if we work together, things will be good. Guarantees were said to be fake, and let's see how people respond, and there was a time when Congress had no competition. And when the BJP party talks about the INDI alliance, saying it is just made to take them out of power, they should not forget what happened during the Indira Gandhi rule.
"We do not expect Rs 15 lac which were promised by them. All I ask them is to fulfill the promise of bringing back the black money. The farmers' problems are real, yet the majority of concessions on loans are given only to big Industrialists, but there is nothing for farmers. Lots of people have given money and come into power, but when they came into power, nothing happened. The petrol prices are rising in all the states ruled by BJP, and Diesel prices are also increasing, which will indirectly trigger the inflation. The central government did not fulfill their promises,” he said.
When questions were raised regarding the St Gerosa School, the minister added, "This press meet is just to talk about Congress convention event, and all the matters regarding schools will be discussed after the event."
Congress leaders P V Mohan, Padmaraj AR; Mamatha Gatty: M A Gafoor, Kripa Alva, Satyanarayana, Ashok Kodavoor, Shashidhar Hegde, Y T Farzana, Sharlet Pinto, Navin D'Souza, Bhaskar Moily and others were present.