Congress ‘flood’ of workers storm Belagavi

Hubballi: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi "campaigning" for US President Donald Trump when the people of the state were struggling to recover from the devastation caused by the floods.

Mr Siddaramaiah, who flagged off a a mammoth rally organised by the party in Belagavi, holding a dried crop in one hand and beating the drum with the other, lambasted the Centre for the delay in announcing a compensation package for the flood victims and deplored that the state government had failed to hold a legislature session in the border district despite the devastation its people had suffered.

Many top  state leaders of the party, including KPCC president, Dinesh Gundurao, Eshwar Khandra, Satish Jarkiholi, Laxmi Hebbalkar participated in the protest organised to draw attention to the "state government's failure to come to the rescue of the flood victims."

Charging that the Union home and finance ministers had conducted a namesake aerial survey of the flood-hit region, Mr Siddaramaiah said the Congress would  take up relief operations on a war-footing if the Chief Minister stepped down.

"The government is not concerned although 2.5 lakh families have been affected by the flood and 88 people have died. I  pity Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa as he was not given an appointment by the Prime Minister and is afraid of  holding a legislature session in Belagavi to discuss the relief operation for flood victims," he said.

Noting that the Centre had not announced a compensation package even 50 days after the flood, the Congress leader alleged that the BJP didn't seem to care despite the many agitations by  flood victims. "I am wondering whether they have  human skin or buffalo skin", he said, adding " Our agitation will not stop here.  We will go on until the flood victims get relief.”