Write it down, we will get 141 seats, says D.K. Shivakumar

D.K. Shivakumar predicts winning 141 seats, highlighting government welfare programs and questioning opposition contributions during his speech in Haveri.

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said, “We are spending ₹20,000 crore to provide free power for irrigation pumpsets and implementing various programmes for the welfare of the people. We had bagged 136 seats in the last election and write down my words, we will win 141 seats in the next poll.”

Addressing a convention that was organised to issue title deeds to 1.1 lakh beneficiary families on the outskirts of Haveri on Saturday, Mr. Shivakumar said that in the byelections the people had blessed the candidates, thus increasing the tally to 139. “This convention is to thank you (the people) and repay you by giving you the title deeds,” he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister sought to know whether the BJP and the Janata Dal governments had given any such pro-people programmes. “Women are travelling happily in buses, and changes have been brought about in the lives of homemakers, and employment opportunities are being generated for the youth,” Mr. Shivakumar said, seeking to know from the Opposition leaders whether they had done anything of this sort during their tenure.

Lambasting the BJP for playing politics over religion, Mr. Shivakumar said that God was not the sole property of the BJP. “There should be religion in politics and not politics in religion,” he said.

He also alleged that the Union government had killed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the government had created a record of sorts by giving title deeds to 2.2 lakh beneficiary families through revolutionary steps taken by Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.