Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday vowed to bring Congress back to power when Karnataka faces its next Assembly election in 2028.
Shivakumar said this when asked about the meeting he held with the party’s Vokkaliga leaders on late Thursday evening. “We’ve accepted the defeat, but it’s not permanent. Things are dynamic in politics. We won only one seat (in 2019), but we’ve won nine seats this time. It’s my responsibility to bring Congress back to power in 2028,” Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar also denied “vendetta politics” by the Congress government towards BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa who is accused of sexually harassing a minor girl.
“Congress doesn’t do politics of vendetta. I feel for him (Yediyurappa), but we too have gone through similar difficulties. If the case against Yediyurappa is vendetta politics, what do you call the case against Rahul Gandhi?” Shivakumar asked.
“What was the connection between the advertisement issued by Karnataka Congress and Rahul Gandhi? Rahul Gandhi is neither KPCC President nor AICC President,” Shivakumar fumed, referring to Rahul having to appear before a local court in a defamation suit filed by the BJP.
On reports that some influential politicians are trying to exert pressure on the government to help Sandalwood actor Darshan who is involved in a homicide case, Shivakumar said: “There is no pressure and no one is trying to influence the case.”