Mangalore: Zero development under Congress regime - Yeddyurappa
Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (DV)
Mangalore, Mar 4: Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday March 4 attacked the Congress and said that the development under Congress regime in the year 2013 was 'zero'.
Addressing reporters at the circuit house during his visit to the city, Yeddyurappa also said that differences of opinion had already emerged between Congress leaders in the state.
"KPCC chief Dr Parameshwar criticized the chief minister at a recent conference and said the CM had not kept even one percent grant for the minorites. Parameshwar even said that though the CM talks of giving importance to the welfare of backward classes, it has not been done so far," Yeddyurappa said.
"When CM Siddaramaiah presented his budget we expected it to be a good one, but it turned out to be the opposite. Under Congress regime there is no proper development, no law and order, no good roads, in short, the development in 2013 has been zero. These are not my words, Congress leaders themselves have said all this," he said.
Listing out the achievements of the erstwhile BJP government under his regime, he said, "When BJP was in power under my leadership, we introduced several welfare programmes for the benefit of people. The Suvarna Bhoomi scheme benefited 10,000 farmers, but now it has been dropped.
"Under Suvarna Gram Yojana, we released Rs 500 crore every year for the development of villages. This scheme too has been stopped. No work has been done under Prime Minister Sadak Yojana for the past one year. Under Ganga Kalyana Yojana 10,500 borewells were dug in 2010-'11 and 11,000 in 2011-'12. But when I asked the Congress government on January 30 this year what they have done under this scheme, they said 661 borewells were dug in 2013," Yeddyurappa said.
"Under Bhagyalaxmi scheme, 2,54,273 bonds were distributed to beneficiaries in 2011-'12, and 3,99,823 bonds in 2012-'13. Under Siddaramaiah's government, the number of beneficiaries was only 1,416," he added.
"There has been no development under Siddaramaiah's regime. The Congress government is neglecting development. In centre as well as in state, the Congress is losing popularity. There has been complete failure of administration in the last 10 months," he added.
On BJP's own prospects in the upcoming elections, he said, "BJP is getting good support throughout the nation. Just as people had jumped into Jayaprakash Narayan's movement, today youth are coming forward to support Modi. They are ready to render voluntary service without expecting anything in return.
"In Karnataka, we will win more than 20 Lok Sabha seats. BJP will come to power in the state once again in the next Assembly elections. We have already started touring the state in this regard," he added.
He also informed that BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will tour three districts in the state in a second round of campaign. However, he did not mention the names of the districts.
"Modi rallies in Gulbarga, Hubli and Dharwad were historical. We never expected such a large turnout. This indicates BJP's victory in the elections," he added.
He further said that the final list of Lok Sabha candidates from the state would be sent to BJP high command in two or three days.
When reporters asked about reports that KJP members were not getting support in BJP, he said, "KJP is an old dream. We have merged with BJP now, and we will work for BJP. There are some issues over this in three districts, but talks are on and we will find a solution soon."
He also said that talks are on to accomodate Dhananjay Kumar suitably and that he would talk to senior BJP leaders about the issue.
He said though he was reluctant to contest from Shimoga in the Lok Sabha elections, his party wanted him to contest and he listened to party leaders' advice. He added that his son Raghavendra, who is the sitting MP of Shimoga, will involve himself more in state politics.
Commenting on the padayatra planned by the Congress in line with the one undertaken recently by BJP in Bantwal, Yeddyurappa quipped, "Congress will walk home, we will walk to Delhi."
On the Yettinahole project, he said Dr Veerappa Moily had hurried up and that the government should have studied and reviewed the project extensively and taken people's opinions into consideration. He however, said that Kolar does face drinking water problem and needs a solution.
Former minister Shobha Karandlaje, MP Nalin Kumar, BJP district president Pratap Simha Nayak, former district president Padmanabh Kottari and others were present.