Bengaluru, May 22 (IANS) Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) In-charge and party’s National General Secretary Radha Mohan Das Agrawal has alleged that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was trying to create differences between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar for his own political interests.

Addressing reporters at the state BJP office Jagannath Bhavan in Bengaluru on Thursday, Agrawal claimed that Kharge was encouraging rivalry between the two senior Karnataka Congress leaders while waiting for an opportunity for himself.

“Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, sitting in Delhi, is acting like the monkey in the popular tale of two fighting cats by creating conflict between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. He is waiting for an opportunity to become Chief Minister himself while the two leaders continue fighting,” he alleged.

Agrawal said there were not just “two faces” aspiring for the Chief Minister’s post in Karnataka, but “three”.

Claiming that the Congress government in Karnataka was weakening, he said several Congress MLAs were in touch with the BJP.

“Even if Assembly elections are held tomorrow, the people will defeat the Congress and give the BJP an opportunity to form the government in Karnataka,” Agrawal asserted.

The BJP leader also alleged that Karnataka was facing financial difficulties because of excessive borrowing by the Congress government.

“The state is in economic distress due to heavy borrowing. There has effectively been no government in the state for the past six to seven months as Congress leaders are busy fighting among themselves,” he claimed.

Responding to questions regarding BJP’s state leadership, Agrawal said the party already had a full-time state President who was actively working.

“The decision on whether he will continue as President or not will not be taken in this meeting. If there is a perception that an evaluation of the President is happening here, that is incorrect,” he added.

He said that performance evaluation within the BJP was a continuous process.

“There is no need to come here separately to understand what BJP leaders are doing. I am not merely a worker of the President; I am a worker of the BJP, and I can say everything openly,” he remarked.

On the possibility of organisational changes within the Karnataka BJP unit, Agrawal said that whenever a new party President was appointed, a new team would naturally be formed.

However, he clarified that the BJP’s core committee would not automatically change with a new President.

“The national leadership decides on the core committee. One or two old members may be replaced by new faces,” he said.

Taking a swipe at speculation surrounding the appointment of BJP office-bearers, Agrawal remarked that the party presidency was not a regular job with a fixed recruitment process.

“It is not like filing forms on the third, conducting interviews on the fifth, announcing names on the seventh and deciding salaries. We currently have a strong President, and under his leadership we contested the Lok Sabha elections. We will contest the Assembly elections under whoever is the President at that time,” he said.

He also launched a strong attack on the Congress government in Karnataka, calling it “corrupt”, “appeasement-driven” and a “failed administration”.

“This government has cheated the people of Karnataka. It has not even implemented its guarantees properly,” he alleged.

–IANS

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