Electing Mayor left to local leaders: Mallikarjun Kharge
He was speaking to mediapersons on his arrival at the Government guesthouse
By : shilpa p.
Update: 2015-08-31 06:46 GMT
Mysuru: Neither the Congress High Command nor the KPCC will influence the decision on striking an alliance for the BBMP mayoral polls, said Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge adding that it has been completely left to the discretion of local leaders.
He was speaking to mediapersons on his arrival at the Government guesthouse here on Sunday evening. When asked about his entry into state politics, Mr Kharge replied in a similar vein. “It is the discretion of the High Command. I will not comment on that.” On the controversial Kalasa Banduri project, he said, “We have been asking for it and rightly so. As much as 200 TMC ft water is reaching the sea. And 40 TMC ft belongs to the state. When UPA was in power we tried to resolve the issue but Goa wanted a tribunal to be formed.
Since the Goa Chief Minister is from BJP, the Prime Minister should talk to the Chief Ministers of Goa and Maharashtra and resolve the issue. An all-party delegation from the state has met the Prime Minister. We are hopeful that the Prime Minister will intervene and resolve the row,” he said.
When asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Man Ki Baat’ on the Land Acquisition bill, he quipped, “He is only speaking his ‘Dil ki baat not Man ki baat’. They do not have a majority in Rajya Sabha to get the Act passed. Arun Jaitley (Union finance minister) has said that he will come out with a clarification in 48 hours. We are eagerly waiting for that. If they enact the Act the way our UPA government drafted it, we will go for it,” he said.
He added, “Mr Modi is only trying to impress people with his gimmicks. There are 17 crore Jan Dhan accounts. Prime Minister Modi has not brought back any black money from foreign banks nor has he deposited even a single rupee in those accounts.”
When asked about BJP’s criticism of the law and order situation in the state, Mr Kharge said: “People in Karnataka are aware of what the state government has been doing. I will not comment on that. Why don’t they talk about developmental works, pro-people, welfare programmes the state government has come up with?” Speaking on the killing of littérateur M.M. Kalburgi, he said, “It is inhuman. The Chief Minister and Home Minister should announce a special team to nab the culprits.”