Nanjangud:  The 71st birthday celebration of former Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad at Vidyavardhaka Grounds in Nanjangud yesterday turned out to be a platform to blow the poll bugle seeking to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister for the second term. It was also a platform for Prasad to ridicule former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah for losing the Chamundeshwari Constituency that he has claimed as his own.

“The people of Karnataka in general and Chamundeshwari in particular have delivered such a blow to Siddharamaiah as he had to go for Nature Therapy in Dharmasthala to recover from the shock. Now Siddharamaiah should tell people what happened to his ego that he nurtured when he was in power,”  he lashed out.

“You have lost Chamundeshwari by a huge margin of 37,000 votes and BJP has been benevolent to your son Dr. Yathindra as he won Varuna effortlessly. You must always remember that Yathindra won not because of your popularity but due to BJP that has awarded the seat to your son like one gives gifts in a wedding ceremony,” Prasad said.

Laced with sarcasm and words full of criticism, Prasad questioned the former CM where was his ego and prestige now. “You have displayed immense arrogance that lacked moral courage and your body language and gestures showed your attitude. Wherever you went, you said that you will be the next CM. What happened to all this,” Prasad questioned.

Criticising the Congress for extending Siddharamaiah a red carpet welcome to the Congress Working Committee, he said the fact that Siddharamaiah, who lost the Assembly election entering into Congress’ top-most body “shows the fate of the party”.

“Siddharamaiah’s poor governance has reduced the strength of Congress MLAs to 79 seats. Siddharamaiah, who claimed that he will be the CM for the next five years, has bowed in front of (Chief Minister) H.D. Kumaraswamy,” he added.

Prasad said the Congress, with 44 members in the 543-member Lok Sabha is not keen to contest more than 150 seats. Calling Chamarajanagar MP R. Dhruvanarayan as an opportunist, he said the people should defeat the Congress in the Lok Sabha election. “Social service and honesty will further strengthen the political prospects of those in public life,” he added.

Nanjangud BJP MLA Harshavardhan said Dhruvanarayan backstabbed Prasad and “created hatred among the leaders for his political survival.” Saying his victory is victory of the people of Nanjangud, he said he will dedicate full time for the welfare and development of the people of his constituency.

BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa called upon people to stand behind PM Modi and reject the “unholy alliance and immoral JD(S)-Congress alliance”. The BJP with 104 seats is in the opposition whereas the JD(S) and Congress, nowhere near to the BJP in the tally, had an “unholy alliance” in the State.

Saying that the coalition government, headed by Kumaraswamy, has not taken off even after three months, he said the farming community is in trouble as neither their loans have been waived off nor given fresh loans.

Former Minister B. Sriramulu said the people of the country, including the poor, should vote for Modi for his “clean and pro-poor governance.” Hailing Modi for giving Cabinet approval to include Parivara and Talwara communities in the ST list, he said the time has come for Nayaka community to reward the PM.