Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Ahead of the upcoming bypolls in the Channapatna assembly seat, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday told voters of the assembly segment that the vote cast to Congress would be a vote for him, no matter who contests the by-election from Congress party.
Speaking to the media at his Sadashivanagar residence, he said, “I am the one who issues ‘B’ form and I am the signatory for it. Hence, it is a vote for me no matter who contests.”
When asked about the alliance between BJP and JDS for the by-poll, he said, “It doesn’t matter who joins hands. We are serving the people and they will make the right decision.”
Replying to a query from the media about whether he would welcome C P Yogeshwar if the latter showed interest in joining Congress, he said, “I don’t know why the media asks such questions. No one has come to me and there is nothing on the table.”
He said that he does not believe in reports of Yogeshwar’s remarks contesting as an independent candidate if the party does not give him the ticket.
“I don’t believe media reports on this”, the Deputy Chief Minister said.
He also stated that the job fair that happened recently is an attempt to provide jobs to the youth of this region.
“The people have given us an opportunity to serve them, we will do everything in our capacity to serve them. Some people were saying the Yettinahole project would not materialise, but we had an experimental operation in just a few days. We will inaugurate the project shortly. This is our style of functioning. Similarly, we have organised a job fair to provide jobs to the youth of this region. We are making an honest attempt, let’s see how it pans out”, he said.
When asked about the Raj Bhavan Chalo march launched by the Congress, he said, “The Governor has given us an appointment on Saturday during my meeting with him in an engagement ceremony. He has given us time and we will submit an appeal.”
In a counter-move to the BJP’s recent padayatra demanding the Chief Minister’s resignation over a land allotment controversy, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar earlier said that the Congress party would organise a ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ march to seek prosecution of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy in a mining lease case.