Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took a dig at BJP’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ programme by recalling that RSS leaders V.D. Savarkar and M.S. Golwalkar had not accepted the national flag.
Speaking after inaugurating a padayatra programme in Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency as part of 75 years of Indian Independence on Sunday, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the country got its national flag, the Constitution, and the national anthem because of the Congress.
“The national flag is a matter of pride for us. But, Mr. Savarkar and Mr. Golwalkar had not accepted the national flag,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said. While the RSS was founded in 1925, its political wing, Jana Sangh, which was established in 1951, later became BJP in 1980.
He questioned the BJP’s contribution to freedom struggle by asking if any of their leaders had sacrificed their lives or wealth for the country’s independence. He claimed that patriotism was started by Congress and mocked BJP’s efforts to teach patriotism to Congress leaders.
Meanwhile, Mr. Siddaramaiah during his visit to Mysuru on Sunday also inaugurated the newly established Vishwakarma Seva Trust and felicitated meritorious students of the community.
Speaking at the function, Mr. Siddaramaiah recalled that he had established the Vishwakarma Development Board for the community and even sanctioned funds for the board’s programmes.
Regretting that the board had not receieved much assistance from the government after his regime came to an end, Mr. Siddaramaiah assured the community that facilities would be extended to them again if the Congress returned to power. He asked them to be wary of political parties that tried to sway them with false promises.
The former Chief Minister also inaugurated the Kanaka Bhavan in Hunsur, where he alleged that the BJP government had discontinued all the pro-people programmes he had started like Vidyasri and Bhagya programmes. He claimed that the pro-people programmes had been discontinued by the present regime only because they had been started by him (Mr. Siddaramaiah). Also, another reason was that the government did not have any funds, he claimed.
He said he was indebted to the people of Hunsur, who had elected Congress candidate H.P. Manjunath in the byelections, and promised to serve the people of the constituency if voted to power again.
Later, Mr. Siddaramaiah visited the house of Congress worker Fasihuddin, 51, a resident of Halaganahalli village of Periyapatna taluk, who died in a road mishap while returning from his 75th birthday celebrations held on August 3 in Davangere.
During his visit to the Congress worker’s house, Mr. Siddaramaiah paid condolences to the bereaved family.
