Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah hopes to dodge Sharief tsunami

Mysore: Countering JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda’s assertion that veteran Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief will join his party and file his nomination from Mysore-Kodagu parliamentary segment on March 26, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said this would not happen.

Speaking to reporters in H.D. Kote before hitting the campaign trail for Chamarajanagar Congress candidate R. Dhruvanarayan, Mr Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that Mr Sharief will remain in the party. “He is still very much in the Congress, we are leaving no stone unturned to retain him in the party.” He rubbished reports of a rift within the party rank and file over ticket allotment but admitted to problems in  Shimoga constituency and said the party is dealing with it.

Challenging the statement of JD(S) leader H D Revanna who had claimed that the party will field a ‘surprise candidate’ in Mysore-Kodagu, Mr. Siddaramaiah wondered from where the JD(S) would bring the candidate. He said there was a direct fight between Congress and BJP in the state with the JD(S) limited to four constituencies.

Promising that Karnataka will witness comprehensive growth if the Congress is voted to power at the Centre, he said developmental activity will gain momentum if the same party is in power at the Centre and in the state. Ridiculing the Modi wave, Mr Siddaramaiah said that it was mere hype created by the media. He said the BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi has a RSS background and was not concerned about the Dalits and backward communities.

Meawhile, Narasimharaja MLA Tanveer Sait warned that the Congress will suffer a major setback in the election, if Mr Sharief deserts the party. He urged national leaders of the party to convince Mr Sharief not to quit the Congress. “The Lok Sabha election is a big challenge for the party. The vote-bank of the party will be divided if Mr Sharief quits. This will help BJP to a greater extent”, he said.