Don't merely play the role of watchman of Gandhi family: K'taka BJP tells Kharge

Bengaluru, Nov 1 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy urged Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to not "demean the people belonging to the Dalit community by not merely playing the role of watchman of the Gandhi family".

Interacting with the mediapersons on Friday at the BJP office - Jagannath Bhavan - here, Narayanaswamy said: "Kharge should exercise his authority as the president of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). I had earlier stated that Kharge was only temporarily appointed as a stop-gap arrangement as AICC President. I had advised Kharge not to just be a 'watchman' for the Gandhi family and Congress, but to exercise authority directly. However, Kharge displayed his helplessness."

He said how a Dalit -- referring to Kharge -- is being disrespected by the Congress, due to his background."I appeal to the Dalit community to recognise the anti-Dalit policies of Congress and I urge Kharge not to demean the Dalit community by merely playing the role of a 'watchman'," the BJP leader said.

He further said that all the five guarantees promised by the Congress-led government in Karnataka will go missing after the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.

Claiming that the government was mired in infighting, he added: "Please don't ask who are fighting... understand that yourselves."

He accused Congress of deceiving the public and gaining power through five guarantees, but "none of the five guarantees are truly reaching the people".

"The Gruha Lakshmi scheme has not been active for three months. Even though Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar from Belagavi has been asking, no funds have come," he said.

"The Anna Bhagya scheme is also unavailable... authorities keep saying the server is down. No one can say who received the Yuva Nidhi. In this situation, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has spoken about withdrawing the Shakthi scheme, he said.

The BJP leader said that after being slammed, "they took a U-turn in a single day".

"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said they would not backtrack for any reason. In light of the Maharashtra elections, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge hurried from Delhi to Bengaluru out of concern for their vote bank," Narayanaswamy said.

"Kharge advised them to keep quiet until after the Maharashtra elections. It is evident that there is no money with the Congress government, and the Treasury is empty," he added.

--IANS

mka/pgh