Accusing BJP MLA representing Nanjangud reserved Assembly segment B. Harshavardhan of doing precious little for the development of the constituency, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has claimed that the MLA was only laying foundation stones for the programmes sanctioned during the previous Congress regime.
In Nanjangud on Tuesday to unveil the statue of Sangolli Rayanna in Hosavidu village, Mr. Siddaramaiah lashed out at Mr. Harshavardhan, who had recently demanded a clarification or an apology from the former Chief Minister for his reported remarks on Dalit leaders joining the BJP.
The former Chief Minister claimed that he had announced a series of developmental works in Nanjangud which went to by-polls in 2017 after former Minister V. Srinivas Prasad quit the Assembly. The Congress leader recalled that his government had approved and released funds for the multi-village drinking water project benefiting 126 villages, project to fill up 26 lakes in Hullahalli region, laying concrete roads in rural parts of Nanjangud, underground drainage project in different parts of the constituency and other civic amenity works.
Mr. Siddaramaiah alleged that Mr .Harshavardhan was spending his time laying foundation stones for the projects sanctioned in the previous Congress regime. Neither has he taken up any new project nor has the BJP Government sanctioned any new work in Nanjangud constituency, Mr. Siddaramaiah claimed before calling upon the people of Nanjangud to vote out the BJP MLA in the next Assembly elections and re-elect the Congress.
Though Congress candidate Kadale Keshavamurthy managed to win the by-polls in 2017 defeating Mr. Srinivas Prasad, the Congress lost the elections in Nanjangud in 2018, paving the way for the election of Mr. Harshavardhan, who is incidentally related to Mr. Prasad.
Mr Siddaramaiah’s criticism came close on the heels of the BJP MLA’s statement earlier this week demanding a clarification or an apology from the former Chief Minister’s remarks on Dalit leaders joining BJP.
The MLA said that Mr. Siddaramaiah, who projected himself as a leader of Ahinda, should bear in mind that he became the Chief Minister with the support of Dalits. “The entire community had stood by him. In addition, senior leaders like Srinivas Prasad and G. Parameshwara had extended their support to him”, Mr.Harshavardhan said before remarking that the community had not forgotten how Mr. Siddaramaiah had treated these two senior leaders.
Referring to former MLA A.R. Krishnamurthy’s claims that he had quit the saffron party after BJP MP Ananthkumar Hegde’s statement on changing the Constitution, Mr. Harshavardhan said Mr. Krishnamurthy should have stayed in the BJP itself and raised his concerns if “he had guts”. He claimed that Mr. Prasad had expressed his ire against Mr. Hegde’s statement at a public meeting in the presence of senior BJP leaders Amit Shah, Muralidhar Rao and late Union Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar. “Mr. Srinivas Prasad was bold enough to speak out. If Mr .Krishnamurthy was bold enough like Mr. Prasad, people would have appreciated him”, Mr. Harshavardhan remarked.
