I don\'t indulge in Caste Politics: DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and State Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar said that he could win the assembly elections from the Kanakapura Assembly seat by a big margin because of the support of all communities. “I don’t indulge in caste politics and it has been the reason for my victories. I have won 8 Assembly elections out of the  9 polls I contested," he said at a function after inaugurating the Banjara Bhavan in Vasanthnagar of Bengaluru.

In the recent Assembly polls, D.K. Shivakumar won by a margin of 1.23 lakh votes against his nearest BJP candidate and former minister R. Ashok. His only defeat was at the hands of former Prime Minister H.D. Devegowda in Sathanur Assembly seat in 1985. Devegowda was then a Janata Party nominee while Shivakumar entered the fray as a Congress candidate.

Since the 1989 elections, Shivakumar won all the Assembly elections including contesting as an independent nominee from Sathanur which has now been merged with the Kanakapura Assembly seat.

Shivakumar thanked the Banjara community for extending support to the Congress party in the elections. “Nearly 90 percent of Banjara community voters have stood with the Congress party,” he said.

Shivakumar assured the members of Banjara community that the problems being faced by them including the issues related to the land and tanda development would be resolved. "I have seen the life of Banjara community from a close angle and the community members lead a simple and humble life," he added.