Mangaluru: The Congress party’s manifesto for the upcoming Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) election was jointly released by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, on Wednesday, November 6.
The promises included in the manifesto are proper drinking water connection for every ward, road and footpath development, proper drainage system, city bus terminal and service bus stand near Pumpwell Circle, underpass and railway crossing at key points, scientific method of solid waste management, development of markets, e-governance in the MCC, proper implementation of smart city projects etc.
Siddaramaiah, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, told mediapersons that the Congress is committed to constituting ward committees in all the 60 wards under the city corporation’s limits. “We were not able to constitute ward committees in the wards even though there was a demand for the same. After considering the demand, we are serious about forming ward committees this time and have mentioned it in our election manifesto this year. Our intention is to undertake welfare programmes in every ward and ensure transparency in all the work,” he said.
The former chief minister also said that, when the Congress government was in power in state, a huge amount was earmarked for development work in the MCC. He said that the government gave Rs 2,500 crores for 38 wards of the MCC that came under the Mangaluru South Assembly constituency and Rs 1460 crore for 22 wards which came under the Mangaluru North Constituency. No other government has given such a huge amount for the MCC so far. Even though the BJP leaders claim that no developmental programmes were undertaken during our government, their statement is just for election, he added.
Meanwhile, Siddaramaih declined to comment on a query regarding senior leader B Janardhana Poojary’s comment that the BJP would win in the MCC election and that he is just a ‘Shani’ for Congress party.
No celebration of Tipu Jayanti in Congress office
When asked whether the Congress would celebrate Tipu Jayanti, Dinesh Gundu Rao said that they would not be holding Tipu Jayanti programmes in any of its offices. “We will, however, participate in Tipu Jayanthi programmes conducted by any other organisation or institution,” he said.
AICC secretary Vishnunathan, former ministers U T Khader, B Ramanath Rai, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Abhayachandra Jain, MLCs Hareesh Kumar, Ivan D’Souza, state Mahila Congress president Pushpa Abhayachandra, former MLAs J R Lobo, Mohiuddin Bava and others were present.
