KALABURAGI: The BJP has “no clear intent and is totally neglecting development” said Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge here on Saturday.
At a function organised by the District Congress Committee to felicitate him and other elected Congress legislators, he ridiculed the saffron party for launching its new slogan – ‘Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas’ (clean intent, right development).
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spent Rs 4,500 crore publicising a bundle of lies. In our state, though the BJP did not get a clear mandate, its leaders scurried to grab power. Was it not an attempt to enter Vidhana Soudha through the backdoor? Did they not try for purchase legislators? They gave tickets to those in all sorts of illegal activities. Are these examples of BJP’s “Saaf Niyat”? We had to knock on the doors of Supreme Court at midnight to get an order which enabled us to form the coalition government. Is this a reflection of BJP’s Sahi Vichaar,” he asked sarcastically.
Without naming both Afzalpur strongman Malikayya Guttedar and other Congress leaders who deserted the party on the eve of elections, he said,
“During the elections, some leaders had mistaken that they would be recognised as big leaders if they attacked (Mallikarjun) Kharge. But people know very well their antecedents and also their activities. I don’t have to learn any moral lesson from such persons. I’m pro-people and I will toil for them. I seek the guidance of senior leaders in running a major department like Social Welfare which has been entrusted to me.”
Asked why he delayed his visit to the constituency, he said that he stayed in Bengaluru as he wanted to get justice for SC/ST employees who were demoted after the implementation of the Supreme Court order.
