BJP Dividing Coastal Youth on Religious Lines: CM Kumaraswamy
Udupi: “The youth of Coastal districts should be aware of the fact that they are being hoodwinked in the name of caste and religion. BJP has only a communal agenda”, said Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in a press meet held at the District Congress Bhavan Udupi here on April 7.
Addressing the mediapersons Kumaraswamy said, “The prime minister is playing with the lives of our soldiers. He acts as if none of the previous prime ministers were concerned about the welfare of the armed forces,” Kumaraswamy criticised. The last nine-and-a-half months of the Congress–JD(S) coalition government had not seen a single incident of communal violence in the three coastal districts. People want to lead a peaceful and orderly life. After Bengaluru, it is the coastal districts, which are most developed in the State. The BJP has only divisive issues to offer, people should not get carried away by it. The BJP is misleading people, they are dividing the coastal youth in the name of Hindu and Muslim. But the coalition government is committed to development in all areas”.
CM Kumaraswamy further said, “There will be a change in the coastal districts after the parliamentary elections. The Congress would win the Dakshina Kannada seat. JD(S) candidates Madhwaraj and Anand Asnotikar will also win in the Udupi–Chikkamagaluru and Uttara Kannada parliamentary seats, respectively. The state-run coalition government has done a lot of development work in last nine months. Our government has offered a package of Rs 7,500 cash assistance per hectare to farmers growing paddy in the coastal regions. The loans received by the farmers through cooperative and nationalized banks have been waived for which the contribution to the Udupi district is Rs 80 crore. The state government has waived Rs 6,222 crore crop loans of 15.58 lakh farmers across commercial and cooperative banks”, he added.
“The government has objected to the Election Commission’s decision to stall the loan waiver programme due to as elections are on. But, the Centre has been allowed to deposit funds in the accounts of farmers. This is complete injustice,” he criticised.
Kumaraswamy said the coalition partners, the JD(S) and the Congress, were banking on the development programme to help them get a minimum of 20 Lok Sabha seats.
Elaborating, he said that the government had released Rs 1,075 crore to the district.
“Development projects worth Rs 58 crore have been introduced in Karkala in the last nine months. In addition, 1,500 footbridges in the coastal and Malnad areas have
been approved, keeping in mind the safety of children,” added the chief minister.
He accused the Modi government of ruining the country’s economy. “No party will promise to borrow Rs 4.52 trillion in its poll agenda. Implementation of the demonetisation and the GST were huge blunders,” he said.
“Post-Independence, prime ministers have shown tremendous courage to protect the country during outbreak of wars. The BJP, however, is portraying Modi as the only saviour of the country and its security,” Kumaraswamy pointed out.
He also clarified that his statements on the Pulwama incident were wrongly interpreted by the media. He urged the media – especially, the electronic media – to show restraint.
CM Kumaraswamy also said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not done anything in finding solutions to various problems faced by the people of the Coastal districts. What has Modi done to the welfare of the people of this region”? Kumaraswamy questioned.
Squarely blaming Modi for the merger of Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda he charged saying, “The BJP government at the Center is totally responsible for the merger”.
The Congress-JD(S) coalition government will complete its five-year tenure. The BJP along with a section of the media is trying to destabilize our government. We will be stable for five years. We will work for the people, we are not here to fulfill our personal interests, asserted the CM.
Congress-JD(S) coalition candidate Pramod Madhwaraj, Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes, District minister in-charge Dr Jayamala, MLC B M Farooq, former MLA Vinay Kumar Sorake, Gopal Bhandary, Congress leaders Rakesh Malli, Ashok Kumar Kodavoor, Arathi Krishna, Prakyath Shetty, Harish Kini, U R Sabhapathi, JD(S) president Yogish Shetty and others were present.
Earlier attending a huge rally in Karkala, the chief minister said that the voters of the coastal area were intelligent and knew whom to choose. Mere campaigning in the name of Modi would not help the BJP candidates.
“The candidates have no capacity of their own. It is sad that the entire country is made to believe that Modi is the only answer for defence needs of the country,” he expressed worry.
He urged voters not to be misled by the fake agenda of the BJP. “The party is misleading voters, especially the youth, although Modi has done nothing for the youth. The new trend these days is the youth shouting slogans in support of Modi,” the chief minister pointed out.