Congress has 42,000 GP seats, claims CM Siddaramaiah

Mysuru: Congress party supporters have won as many as 42,000 of the total 93,000 plus seats, those of the BJP 30,000 and the JD(S) 12,000  in the  gram panchayat elections, claimed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Sunday. The results of the polls were announced on Friday. Mr Siddaramaiah who is on a two-day tour of Mysuru, said the Congress has the upper hand in 22 districts in the polls while the BJP leads in five districts and the JD(S) in three.  The positive result for the Congress reflects the opinion of people on the government’s programmes. “The BJP campaigned with the photo of Mr Narendra Modi in villages. But nothing fetched them votes, even the Modi wave did not work. Although we did nothing of that kind, people backed us impressed with our governance in the past two years,” he said.

When asked about Cabinet expansion, he said it would be done after the gram panchayat elections and added that it may come up for discussion during a meeting of Congress Chief Ministers in Delhi on June 9. When asked about former CM Mr B. S. Yeddyurappa’s comments that he will not last long in power as law and order in the State has collapsed, he said, the BJP has become frustrated seeing the success of Congress in the GP elections.

Mr Siddaramaiah launched a Green campaign taken up by Mysuru Zilla Parishat in association with the Forest department to plant 31 lakh saplings in the district during the financial year “I like Mysuru! I love Mysuru! It is my favourite place. No matter where I go, it is here I find my happiness. Mysuru is a beautiful city with historic significance. We need to conserve its beauty. We will take up measures for the overall development of the city and to develop it as a tourist centre. We depended on a well for water in my village, even when I reached my law degree course, we used to get water from the well. But now, there is depletion of the ground water table, in places like Kolar district, even at 1500 feet we are not getting water. Hence we need to plant trees to protect the environment, to ensure ecological balance,” he said.    

A surprise for CM

75-year-old Thangamma wife of Madaiah, a resident of Paduvaralli climbed on the stage and surprisingly, security officials did not stop her. To the Chief Minister’s surprise, she promised him Rs 1 crore to construct a Sathyanarayana Swamy temple provided he allotted a plot at the place where Maharani’s college is coming up in Paduvaralli. The CM smiled and assured he would do something about it.

NO figures but I’m happy: H.D. Kumaraswamy

Refusing to join the debate over the share of seats or votes for each party in the recent gram panchayat polls, JD(S) president Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy said he was satisfied with the performance of his party.

“I don't want to get into a vote percentage calculation. The Chief Minister claims the Congress received more than 50 per cent of the vote. The BJP claims it received more than 60 per cent. Then our share will be in the negative. I am satisfied with my party’s performance, we polled more votes and won more seats than last time,” he said.

Answering a question on the government decision to hold a 10-day session in Belagavi and another 10-day session in Bengaluru, Mr Kumaraswamy said it would hardly make any difference. ''The government may be trying to appease people from both regions. However, a session is all about discussing people's problems which matters. If the opposition gives a suggestion, the government replies in an arrogant manner. If they are not serious about solving problems, does it matter whether the session is held in Belagavi or Bengaluru?” he asked.

Answering a question on IPS officer Sonia Narang writing to the government to transfer her from the Lokayukta, Mr Kumaraswamy wondered if there was any place in the police department, where there was no corruption.''The names of senior officers are tumbling out in the lottery scam. The Lokayukta is no exception as the same policemen are posted there,” he added.