DCM Shivakumar dubs opposition BJP & JD(S) a 'group of opportunists'

Mandya, NT Bureau: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday dubbed the opposition in the state as a "group of opportunists" as he showed old video clips of BJP and JD(S) leaders flaying each other on different occasions.

Addressing a public meeting here, Shivakumar, also the State Congress chief, claimed that the opposition's tactics to target the party government would not work, and his outfit would be in power in the State for the next ten years.

He showed old footage of BJP and JD(S) leaders slamming each other on different issues on a giant screen on the stage. Assembly elections held in May last year saw a triangular fight between the Congress, BJP and JD(S). JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year, and fought the recent Lok Sabha elections in the State in an alliance with the BJP.

The ruling Congress has been holding public meetings in the last few days to counter the BJP's ongoing week-long foot march from Bengaluru to Mysuru demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority site allotment 'scam'.

Calling the opposition a "group of opportunists," Shivakumar said the "old foes have become friends" only with an intention to unseat Siddaramaiah as they could not tolerate a person from a backward community holding the coveted post. He asked the people to give a "reply to this footage."

“We (the Congress when it was in opposition) had taken out a march for the Cauvery water sharing issue and the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir on Cauvery river in Kanakapura. We also did 'Bharat Jodo Yatra.' The BJP is only copying us,” Shivakumar said. He quipped that the opposition parties' march was “a penance march to wash off their sins and grand corruption.”

“If the Mekedatu project was implemented, farmers would have benefited. But the BJP and JD(S) are not letting it happen. Instead they are indulging in diverting public attention,” Shivakumar alleged.