Mangaluru: “The Gods have been pleased by the way the BJP is conducting its administration in the state and the country on the whole. When the ‘Ram Bhakts’ can defeat and dust the ‘demon’ Congress, you are now afraid of rains?” BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel said, as it began to rain during the newly elected BJP corporators’ felicitation programme.
He was addressing the gathering at the “Thanksgiving Ceremony to electorates of Mangaluru South and Mangaluru North” and “Felicitation of newly elected party Corporators to MCC” held at the Kadri Grounds here on November 16,
Nalin said, “My political guru, veteran Congress leader Janardhana Poojary’s curse on the Congress has turned into victory for the BJP. Because the Congress leaders neglected him in all the major decision making processes and for their arrogance, the party has lost its charm and is moving towards extinction.”
“The Congress has internally and externally collapsed. It was trying to fool the people through reservations. But now, the people have realised all their cheap tricks and have flushed the Congress out. Henceforth, there will be no ‘reservation politics’ in all the electoral levels,” he added.
Thanking the electorates for voting and the party workers for their efforts, he said, “Now the responsibility of the BJP is at its peak. We should not forget the aspirations of the people who have voted for us. ‘Swachh’ (clean) and ‘corruption free’ administration is what we assure to our people. To the corporators who have been elected, I say remember that this is not a felicitation ceremony, but an oath taking ceremony for ‘Smart Mangaluru’.”
District in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said, “It is because of calculative decisions and efforts put in by Nalin that this time, the BJP has managed to achieve a massive victory in the MCC election. The united efforts of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Nalin at the state level, and MLAs Vedavyas Kamath and Dr Bharath Shetty at the district level, have paid off.
“Late former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once said that politics is ‘sensitive’. Only when one goes among the commoners and understands their problems, the party, as well as the candidate, will be able to emerge victorious to serve the people. All the 44 corporators who have won the MCC election, keep in mind that the people are watching and expecting good governance from you all,” he added.
MLA Vedavyas Kamath said, “The BJP gives equal importance to all its candidates irrespective of winning or losing. Out of 60 MCC wards, 44 are in the BJP’s hands and the other 14 candidates have set a benchmark by giving their opponents a tough fight, which is commendable. They only lost because of the short campaign period.”
“A big thanks to all the party workers who have toiled in the scorching heat. During the campaign, when I had asked them how the ground situation was, they had said that the party would win over 35 seats. We have indeed made history by winning 44 seats out of 60. According to the reports that the party has received, out of 59.67 per cent of the voters, the BJP received 52 per cent of the electorates’ support. My earlier request to the electorates was to give a chance to the BJP to run the local body administration and they have responded positively,” he added.
He then added that CM BSY had already assured a grant of Rs 125 crore for the developmental projects of the district, which will soon be initiated.
MLA Bharath Shetty, in his welcome speech said, “The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government was ‘busy’ and ‘smart’ in corruption. But now, as the party has achieved mammoth support at the Centre, state, district and the local body, we must not take any of this for granted.”
During the programme, all the candidates were felicitated with a saffron shawl, a coffee mug and a rose.
Former ministers Nagaraja Shetty and J Krishna Palemar, MLAs Umanath Kotian and Rajesh Naik, district BJP president Sanjeeva Matandoor, former MLA Yogish Bhat, BJP district general secretary Brijesh Chowta and others were present.
