Hassan MLA warns Muslims of not taking up any development work if they do not vote for him in the coming elections
The Hindu
The MLA is heard telling the residents of Srinagar locality in Hassan that, in the last four years as a legislator, he had treated people of all communities as brothers
Hassan MLA Preetham J. Gowda told voters in a Muslim-dominated locality in Hassan city that he will not take up any work in that area if the residents did not vote in the 2023 Assembly elections in Karnataka.
“If you come to my home, I will offer you coffee, but will not do anything that you need,” the MLA said during his recent visit to Srinagar locality in Hassan. A video clip of his speech, delivered in the evening with no lights around, has gone viral on social media platforms.
The MLA is heard telling the residents that in the last four years as MLA he had treated people of all communities as brothers. “I will continue to treat you the same, but will not consider any of your needs. You did not vote for me in the last Assembly elections, and ignored my party during the municipal council elections, and also in the Lok Sabha elections. If you do not vote for me in the coming Assembly elections, I will not fulfil any of your needs. As an MLA, it is my duty to ensure drinking water, road and drainage. But nothing more than that,” he said.
He said he is seeking votes as wages for his work. “You are all daily wage workers. You get angry if you do not get wages for the work you did. Don’t you think I will also get upset if you did not vote even after (me) responding to your needs?”
Commenting on the JD(S) and Congress leaders, the MLA said he had been a legislator only for the last four years. The people who enjoyed power for decades hardly did any work for the locality. “H.D. Deve Gowda was CM once, and his son H.D. Kumaraswamy was the CM twice. H.D. Revanna was minister four times. Did they ever visit your locality? This time, they will come with a long list of promises. Why did not they do any work in all these four decades?”
No room for complacency till counting is completed, Chandrababu Naidu tells TDP-BJP-JSP contestants. The TDP-BJP-JSP alliance will register a comfortable victory in the general elections over the YSRCP, he says. Alleging that the YSRCP has conspired to create disturbances on the counting day, the TDP national president advises the chief counting agents and their teams to see to it that the officials adhere to norms related to counting.