The Hindu
KOLAR, Mar 26: All India Congress Committee general secretary incharge of party affairs in Karnataka Ghulam Nabi Azad has stressed the need of restoring single party rule at the Centre, which he said is necessary to preserve national unity and integrity.
Addressing the Bangalore divisional level Bharat Nirman convention of the Congress at the Sir M. Visvesvaraya Stadium here on Wednesday, he said that there were about 450 princely states in the pre-Independence era, which led to disunity among the people paving the way for British rule. He said a similar situation prevailed in the country today owing to rule by several regional parties in various States. Hence, having a single party rule is inevitable to build a strong nation, he said.
India was emerged a strong economic power in the face of global recession, he said and attributed the unity among people as main reason for this.
He castigated the Bharatiya Janata Party as a party dividing people. India is abode to all religions, but the communal forces were attempting to create enmity among people of various faiths, he alleged.
The former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held the Janata Dal (Secular) responsible for the BJP coming to power in the State. Since it aligned with communal forces to enjoy the power in the past, the Janata Dal (Secular) lost credibility as a secular party, he said. He termed Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa as “king of lies.”
Leader of the Opposition in Legislative Assembly Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that BJP was misusing power in Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency where Mr. Yeddyurappa’s son Raghavendra was pitted against the former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president R.V. Deshpande, working president D.K. Shivakumar, the former Chief Ministers Dharam Singh and S. Bangarappa, senior leader C.K. Jaffer Sharif and Union Minister K.H. Muniyappa addressed the rally.
Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council V.S. Ugrappa, MLCs V.R. Sudarshan, Nazir Ahmad, Youth Congress president C.B. Krishna ByreGowda, Mahila Congress president Rani Sateesh, Motamma and others were present.