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Journalism of Courage
Taking a dig at senior Congress leader and ex-CM Siddaramaiah at a rally in Haveri district’s Shiggaon Wednesday just before filing his nomination for the May 10 Assembly polls from there, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he was not a CM who will run away from his constituency for fear of losing polls.
“The people of the Shiggaon constituency know about the work that has been done by me. There have been rumours that I will be shifting my constituency. I am not a CM who will run away. I am not a CM who contests from one seat and then switches to another. The verdict on my performance must be made by my people. You are my owners,” Bommai told the gathering.
The CM was obliquely making a reference to Siddaramaiah, who also filed his nomination Wednesday – from the Varuna seat in Mysuru after switching from his Badami constituency.
Bommai, who has been winning from Shiggaon for consecutive three terms since 2008, was accompanied by the BJP national president, J P Nadda, and the Kannada film star, Kiccha Sudeep.
“You have nurtured me and you have to help me survive. I will work for you until my last breath. When I die I should be interred in the soil of Shiggaon. This is my effort to fulfil my debt to Shiggaon,” the CM told the rally, making an emotional pitch to the local residents.
Bommai referred to his works for the region, highlighting the creation of an ayurvedic hospital, a 250-bed Shiggaon hospital, a Savanur hospital, a GTTC (technical trade training centre), a veterinary polytechnic, an engineering college, and a textile park that can employ 10,000 people.
“We have filled over 100 tanks with water, 2,000 kms of roads have been built around the district and 10,000 houses have been built in Shiggaon,” Bommai said, adding that efforts were being made to ensure the supply of drinking water through taps there within the next six months.
Addressing the rally, Nadda said Bommai’s nomination was not just meant for the MLA’s post, “but it is a way that will give direction for Karnataka to move ahead”.
“Looking at your enthusiasm I’m sure that you have decided to send Bommai here to the Assembly for the next five years. I have not come here just to ask for your support for Bommai, but also to seek your vote on the lotus symbol so that the Ganga of continuous development keeps flowing in Karnataka,” Nadda said.
The BJP chief also hit out at the principal Opposition Congress, accusing the pary of being “corrupt” and warning that it would use Karnataka as its “ATM” on coming to power, and would also withdraw the ban on the radical outfit Popular Front of India.
On Wednesday, B Y Vijayendra, the son of BJP veteran and ex-CM B S Yediyurappa, also filed his nomination from his father’s Shikaripura seat in Shivamogga. Yediyurappa had abdicated the seat in favour of his son in July 2022 and ensured that the party leadership fields Vijayendra from there in his place.
Vijayendra was accompanied by Yediyurappa and his other family members including his brother Raghavendra, the Shivamogga MP, and Kannada actress Shruti during a roadshow ahead of the filing of his nomination.
(With PTI inputs)
