Congress woos Vijayanagara voters

NT Correspondent

Vijayanagara: The Congress on Tuesday sought to woo voters of Hosapete in Vijayanagara district by holding a convention in the town. The Vijayanagara Assembly segment is currently held by State Minister of Tourism and Ecology Anand Singh.

Congress bigwigs sought to attack the sitting MLA for his alleged neglect of the constituency. They also played up the fact that it was Congress that amended the Constitution and ensured article 371 J, giving special status to Hyderabad-Karnataka.

Article 371J refers to the constitutional amendment that sought to empower the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which includes the then Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and Bellary. Other poll promises included irrigation projects for the region. Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly Siddaramaiah claimed that only Congress could bring governance to the neglected region.

“Tungabhadra is the lifeline of this region. The Tungabhadra is supposed to hold 130 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) but due to silting, it is only able to hold 37 TMC. To this moment, injustice is being done to people here. About 200 TMC of water is flowing to Andhra Pradesh.

To solve this issue, the BJP had promised to build an alternative dam. Have they fulfilled the said promise? I would like to give my word to the people of this region that we will build a parallel dam if we come to power. We will pursue this goal, whatever the cost,” he said.

“We had constructed 15 lakh houses for the homeless in five years. Did the government even build a single house in Hosapete, Anand Singh? As many as 28,000 applied. It has been 10 years since Anand Singh made this promise. Should such people win?” he asked. Both Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar sought to emphasise the benefits article 371 J provided to the region.

“Congress empowered the region with 371 J through the hard work of Mallikarjun Kharge and Dharam Singh. Through this, we have been able to bring a change in people’s lives. Is this possible under a BJP government?

This happened under the Congress government under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership and Manmohan Singh’s government,” Shivakumar said. Karnataka Congress bigwigs also held a programme in Koppal city later in the day, covering yet another district in the Hyderabad- Karnataka region.