Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Credit: PTI Photo
Challakere (Chitradurga district): Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D K Shivakumar on Monday rubbished Union minister H D Kumaraswamy’s claims that BJP leader C P Yogeshwar was in touch with him or the Congress party for Channapatna Assembly bypoll ticket.
“I haven’t met Yogeshwara or spoken to him. I last saw him at an Independence Day event. He’s in a different party. Why should I meet him? Kumaraswamy keeps making statements. He must be in touch with the leaders of other parties. I won’t give any importance to his comments,” Shivakumar told reporters here.
He was in the town, along with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and several ministers, to attend the wedding ceremony of local MLA T Raghumurthy’s daughter.
Siddu predicts clean sweep
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah exuded confidence in winning all three seats in the November 13 bypolls.
Speaking to reporters here, Siddaramaiah said, “There is no confusion in ticket distribution and that the candidates for all three bypoll-bound Assembly segments - Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur - will be announced in a day or two. The Congress party will make a clean sweep in the bypolls,” he said.
Replying to a query, Siddaramaiah said that BJP leader Yogeshwar, who resigned as MLC on Monday evening, was not in touch with the Congress party.
A group of Madiga Mahasabha members, donning black towels, protested when the CM arrived in the town for a private event.
They demanded the chief minister to implement internal reservation among Scheduled Castes. The chief minister told them his government was committed to implement the internal quota among Dalits.