Udupi: The day Pramod Madhwaraj contested from the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency on a JD(S) ticket was the day that he automatically lost his Congress party membership, said former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily.
Speaking to media persons in a press meet held at the Congress Bhavan, Udupi on Saturday, August 31, Moily refused to comment further on Pramod Madhwaraj’s current party. Instead, he told the media to ask Madhwaraj himself as to which party he belonged.
Commenting on the Karnataka floods, Moily said that it was not a common problem as the state had never had to face such a difficult situation. “Neither the Union Government nor the State Government is serious about it despite the over Rs 5 lakh crores worth of damage caused by the floods,” he added.
“This was a natural calamity and the Prime Minister is yet to assess the situation. In Maharashtra, the state government has already declared compensation for flood victims. But the Karnataka government has failed to face up to the flood losses in the state,” he further alleged.
The former CM also described the Centre’s decision to merge 10 public sector banks as reckless and said that there was an undeclared financial emergency in the country today. “These ten banks had their own identities The four nationalised banks that were born in the Dakshina Kannada district had emphasized extending its services to rural areas in order to upgrade the economic position of poor people,” he said.
“These four banks were the cradle of an undivided DK district and this decision is an insult to the entire district. We strongly condemn the merger of these banks,” he added.
Responding to a question, Moily said that it may be possible that such hasty decisions were being taken on major issues due to a weak Opposition.
He also said that the Congress party was not weak and that it should not be taken lightly, in a response to another query.
Former Minister Vinaykumar Sorake, former MLA U R Sabhapathy, District Congress Committee President Ashok Kumar Kodavoor, senior Congress leader M A Gafoor, Harsha Moily, and others were present at the press meet.
