The Janata Dal (Secular), which has been holding consultation workshops with its leaders and workers over the past one week to rejuvenate the party, is set to hold a ‘Janata Sangama’ from October 16 to reach out to voters across Karnataka.
“As part of the programme, leaders will visit every taluk and efforts will be made to strengthen the party from grass roots. Interaction will be arranged directly with the workers on the ground and every village will be visited,” former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters at Bidadi, where the ‘Janata Parva’ is under way. He said that the gaps in communication between the party and workers have been fixed.
Responding to State Congress president D.K. Shivakumar, who had said that the BJP and JD(S) have only focussed on sharing power with Lingayats and Vokkaligas, he asked, “How many communities have you respected? Who caused the defeat of Dalit leaders in your party? It is a long list. Who was responsible for the defeat of G. Parameshwara, N. Dharam Singh, K.H. Muniyappa, and Mallikarjun Kharge? In Kolar, where the BJP has no base, a person who could not be a councillor was brought in as BJP candidate and six-time MP K.H. Muniyappa was defeated. Who did (former Speaker) K.R. Ramesh Kumar work for?”
He said Congress leaders had “no moral right” to talk about the JD(S).
