Congress Manifesto is 'pro-poor, pro-people': Poojary

Udupi, May 2 (UNI) Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member B Janardhan Poojary today asserted that the election manifesto released by Congress was 'pro-poor and pro-people'.

Mr Poojary, who was here for election campaigning in Udupi district along with Union Minister for Labour Oscar Fernades, addressing the press conference said, party Chief Sonia Gandhi would take the responsibility of implementing all the promises made in the manifesto, after the party wins the election and form a Government on its own.

He said there was no dearth of resources for implementation of the promises and the party would mobilize the required resources for the successful implementation.

Strongly criticizing the remarks of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa for making Karnataka into Gujarat model and claiming himself to become Modi of Karnataka, Mr Poojary said it was a ''gross insult'' to the people of the State.

The people would have appreciated Mr Yeddyurappa if he would have referred himself as model for himself, he added.

The people would no more tolerate such remarks and would not allow the state to become another Gujarat, which had witnessed the most heinous genocide. The people of Karnataka need not have to learn anything from Gujarat, he said, adding that it was 'Moditva' and not 'Hindutva'.

Strongly objecting to the remarks of Mr Yeddyurappa that Congress was also like JD(S), which too had betrayed BJP from coming to power, Mr Poojary said it was BJP which had caused the fallout of Congress-JD(S) coalition Government through their 'behind-the-scene' efforts. The party, which had promised the people of the country to build Sri Ram temple at Ayodhya, has not kept its promise even after 20 years.

Referring to the recent pre-poll survey conducted by the leading English daily, predicting that the Congress would get 114 seats in the election, he said the party would get two third majority as a favourable atmosphere was prevailing across the State after the release of party's election manifesto.

The people, who were also disappointed with experimenting the coalition Government, had decided that only Congress could form a stable Government, he claimed.

Replying a question, Mr Poojary said last moment efforts would be made by the party leaders to convince the rebel candidates to withdraw their nomination. If they failed to withdraw, they would be expelled from the party for six years, he warned.

UNI MA GKT RL ND1802