Congress will win Karnataka, fulfil promises first: Shivakumar

Belthangady: Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar on Saturday expressed confidence over the party winning 141 seats in the May 10 Assembly elections and said the first state Cabinet meeting of the party would fulfil all its ‘Guarantee Card’.

Campaigning for the party’s Belthangady candidate Rakshith Shivaram, Shivakumar said: “Siddaramaiah and I have signed the Guarantee Card, which is being distributed by our workers,” Shivakumar said.

“The first Cabinet meeting will pass the schemes mentioned in the Guarantee Card, of free 200 units (of free power) per house, Rs. 2,000 for the women head of the family, and 10 kg rice for each family,” he said.

“Whenever the Congress has come to power, people of all sections have been empowered. BJP, which got 104 seats in the last election, formed the government through Operation Lotus. Can anybody say that the double engine government has made any change to their life,” he asked.

Shivakumar said that the party has fielded new faces based on its surveys, calculations and discussions.

He assured that the coastal and Malnad regions of Karnataka would be developed and a separate board constituted for the purpose. “This will ensure that the youth of the region do not need to go to distant places like Mumbai, Bengaluru or abroad for jobs,” he said.

“The BJP dam is shattered. Jagadish Shettar, who had served as (state) party president, Chief Minister and MLA for 30 years, was denied a ticket. Laxman Savadi too. About a dozen BJP legislators wanted to join Congress, but we did not have place (for them),” Shivakumar said.