Bengaluru:: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar today said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has advised the newly elected Congress MPs from Karnataka to be the voice of the State in Delhi.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Rahul Gandhi at hotel Shangrila, the DCM said, “Rahul Gandhi held a meeting with the newly elected Congress MPs and defeated candidates. He advised the newly elected Congress MPs to be in touch with the constituency as often as possible and do good work with the support of the State government. He urged them to raise their voice against the injustice caused to the State.”
“Stating that only one MP from Karnataka spoke for the State in the previous Parliament, Rahul Gandhi advised the new MPs to raise their voice on injustice caused to the State with regards to tax devolution, Kalasa Bhanduri, Mekedatu, Upper Bhadra, Finance Commission, Peripheral Ring Road, etc. Rahul Gandhi also spoke to the defeated candidates and advised them to continue their work in the constituency and win the hearts of the people. Rahul Gandhi later met some of the ministers and discussed party performance in their respective constituencies,” he noted.
“Rahul Gandhi has instructed the Chief Minister and me to prepare a report on election performance after deliberations with various leaders. The Chief Minister and I have been invited for the AICC Working Committee meeting on June 8. We will hold a review meeting once we come back from Delhi,” he added.
“Kharge ji and Article 371J have fuelled the Party in Kalyana Karnataka and the Party has won all the five seats in the region. We will work out the future course of action keeping all these in mind,” he noted.
“Rahul Gandhi attended the Court today out of his respect for the law. The BJP has filed a false complaint on us. D K Suresh has given a surety for the bail. I would like to thank all the party workers who have extended their support to us in this,” he said.
Mr Shivakumar congratulated the three candidates who emerged victorious in the recently concluded MLC elections.
Asked if the issue of the Party not getting leads in the constituencies of many ministers was discussed in the meeting with Rahul Gandhi, he said, “Rahul Gandhi has discussed it with all the ministers. The High Command has asked for a report and we will submit a report post our discussions with the party leaders.” Asked if the guarantee schemes were discussed, he said there was no discussion on it.
Asked about BJP MLA Ashwathnarayan’s statement that Rahul Gandhi had come to seek CM’s resignation, he said, “Let him talk about his party first, there have been so many cases of funds misuse during the BJP’s term. The CM has already ordered an investigation into the Valmiki Development Corporation scam.”
Asked if the India alliance would agree with the special status demand for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, he said, “Congress party had announced that it would give special status to Andhra Pradesh if we came to power and we would have done so. NDA government is getting formed now, let them take a decision.”
Replying to a query on the allegation of distribution of money by the Congress in the recently concluded MLC elections, he said, “We have won 3 of the 6 seats. Did BJP win the other three seats by distributing money? Yediyurappa had said that BJP would win all the 28 seats, what happened to that? We had said we will win all the six seats, but we have won 3.”
Asked about his strategy to fight the Deve Gowda family in view of the defeat in Bengaluru Rural, he said, “Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy, Anithakka, Nikhil… all of them have lost to us in the past. Now D K Suresh has lost.”
Asked about the functioning of the EVMs, he said, “I have a few doubts about EVMs. I am collecting some data regarding that and I will talk to you about it then.”
Replying to a query on growing demands of NDA alliance partners, he said, “There is nothing wrong in their expectations. People with much lower number of seats are demanding a lot now a days.
Asked if Rahul Gandhi would become the Leader of the Opposition, he said, “The whole country is hoping to see Rahul Gandhi become the PM. We are hoping that he would become the Leader of the Opposition now.”
