Bengaluru: Basanagouda Turvihal, a BJP leader who lost in the 2018 Assembly elections in Maski, will officially join the Congress party tomorrow, November 22. He is also likely to be the Congress’ candidate in the upcoming by-polls.
An announcement in this regard was made by Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and former chief minister Siddaramaiah on his official Twitter account.
“Shri. Basanagouda Turvihal will officially join @INCKarnataka tomorrow. He was the candidate from @BJP4Karnataka in the last elections. He may be our candidate in the by-election,” he wrote.
Shri. Basanagouda Turvihal will officially join @INCKarnataka tomorrow. He was the candidate from @BJP4Karnataka in the last elections.
He may be our candidate in the by-election.
1/8
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 21, 2020
Slamming the BJP for their recent decision to bring a law to ban the slaughter of cows, Siddaramaiah said, “@BJP4India does not have clear stance on Cow slaughter issue. Beef exports have been doubled since @narendramodi became @PMOIndia. Many of those exporters are from BJP only.
“There is no change in our stance about Cow slaughter bill. @BJP4Karnataka had amended 1964 Cow slaughter act and we had repealed it to retain the original provisions. We are committed to this.”
Speaking further, he accused the BJP of trying to divert the people’s attention from its failures by talking about ‘love jihad’ and cow slaughter.
“‘Love Jihad’, ‘Cow Slaughter’ and similar issues are their only hope to win elections.,” he added.
“It is unfortunate that @CMofKarnataka & ministers are taking inspiration from CM of Uttar Pradesh @CMOfficeUP. Karnataka is always known for its liberal & progressive ideas. Uttar Pradesh, which is known as ‘Goonda Rajya’, can never be an inspiration or a model State,” he reiterated.
Regarding the issue of the state-wide bundh call on December 5, Siddaramaiah said that a discussion will be held by the party internally regarding whether or not to support the same.
“We will discuss within the party to decide if we shall support the bundh. The bundh is called by various Kannada organisations against the govt’s decision to set up Maratha development authority. @BJP4Karnataka is using such frivolous tactics to appease them.
“Belagavi is integral part of Karnataka and even Mahajan report confirms the same. We are strongly committed to protect our land, water and language,” he wrote.
