Farmers Movement Archive

‘Opposition parties will take in part in meeting by Sonia Gandhi’

Randeep Singh Surjewala, AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge, has said that all opposition parties will take part in the meeting which will be held by AICC chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on August 20, to discuss about strategies to defeat BJP in the next Parliament elections. He was talking with presspersons in Raichur as he was here to attend the Kalyana Karnataka regional-level representatives’ meeting on Tuesday. Mr. Surjewala accused Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman of making false statement on oil bonds and said that the Union government has not been informing the country on gaining thousands of crore rupees by imposing heavy taxes on oil prices. “She should come on a open stage to discuss this. I will take retirement from politics if she can prove all the allegation against the Congress,” he said. He said that around 62 crore farmers were thrown out to the streets because of the anti-farm policies of the Union government. “The government should immediately attend the grievance of the agrarian sectors,” he stressed. Attacking the State government, Mr. Surjewala said that the BJP government adopted a stepmotherly treatment towards Kalyana Karnataka in all sectors. “It made a promise to release Rs. 1,500 crore to the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB) every year but had released only Rs. 630 crore and also discriminated in giving opportunities to the MLAs from the region to become a Minister,” he added. Mr. Surjewala said that government has failed to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. “People died on the streets without bed, oxygen, and other medical facilities.” Terming the State government illegal, Mr. Surjewala said: “The BJP has not come to power by the votes of the people. The former Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa, who was allegedly facing corruption charges, was asked to step down but Central leaders have not revealed the proper reasons behind such changes.” D.K. Shivakumar, KPCC president, alleged that the State government has suppressed the death rates due to COVID-19. When asked about the meeting, he said that they discussed about strengthening the party from the ground level to fight against the State government. Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and others were present.

The Hindu

2021-08-19

YADGIR,KARNATAKA