Mangaluru: JP Hegde held a press meet regarding the upcoming MLC elections at the Press Club Urwa here, on December 24.
Speaking to the mediapersons Hegde said that since he filed the nomination he had not received any negative comments from voters. “The only negative comments that I got are from the party members with whom I have worked. I was once praised for the work done by me but the same party members are criticizing me for political gain. Criticism and scrutiny is a must for democracy to function, but scrutiny should be limited to the work done by a person. Nobody should criticize a person on his personal life,” he said.
About the work done by him, Hegde said, “Members of Udupi Panchayat once wrote to me. They faced an issue, the balance amount of money after paying the electricity bill wasn’t credited directly to the customer’s account; instead the balance amount had to go through Escrow account and was later credited to the customer. I made sure that the amount was credited directly to the account of the customer. The Panchayat sent me a reply saying that I was the only person who worked towards the implementation of the system out of the eleven representatives. Let the party criticize me for this kind of work.”
Hegde said, “I have several plans for the development of the district. I will address the issues faced by arecanut growers; development of tourism sector; Rs 34 crores will be released to 98 gram Panchayats to establish 42 solar power stations; use of technology for the betterment of people; upgrade the railway infrastructure and extend the routes of trains to cater more people.”
Hegde further said, “First time I was elected for a change and the second time I was elected for the good work I had done,” he added.
“Several party members are supporting me but I will not name them as there is a chance that they may be expelled from the party for doing so,” Hegde said regarding the support he had from within the party.
When asked if he would join the Congress party again if the party requested him, he said, “Right now the main objective is to win the election. Everything else will be decided later. I have contested as an independent before; I will do so this time. The voters will decide looking at my track record so far. I am convinced I will win the election.”