BJP Central leaders to attend Yuva Morcha rally at Davangare

He also announced that the party’s 6000 km State-wide Sankalpa Yatra would culminate with the valedictory function at Hubli on May 17. The response to the yatra had shown that the party’s support base in the State had doubled, he said.

Expressing the view that the Janata Dal should not extend support to a Congress-led alternative at the Centre, he said if they did, they would lose all credibility with the people in Karnataka. The people would also not tolerate the betrayal of a party (BJP) which had done much for the welfare of Karnataka. He counted the Seabird Naval project, the amicable settlement of the Cauvery dispute and the clearance to various National Highway projects, among the BJP’s acts of benevolence.

As it was, the fact that former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Chief Minister J H Patel and Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah issued conflicting statements regarding the vote of confidence sought by the BJP at the Centre, and so, clearly gave the impression that the Janata Dal was disintegrating.

BJP MLA A Ramdas, who was also present at the briefing, accused the State Government of manipulating the situation to ensure that the Vice Chancellor of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, S Kantha, gets another term. He alleged that the Search Committee Chairman Rudraiah was known to be close to Kantha and would be partisan. This was against the rules, he said.