BJP promises total prohibition in K'taka

Mangalore, May 4 (UNI) BJP State Unit President and Mangalore MP D V Sadananda Gowda today said the BJP, which had banned the sale of arrack in the state during the coalition government with JD(S), was committed to implement total prohibition.

Addressing the press conference here, Mr Gowda, who expressed the confidence of the party coming back to power in the election, said immediate total ban of liquor was not possible and it would make all its efforts to introduce total prohibition stage by stage.

Lamenting the alleged statement of Central Administrative Reform Commission Chairman and former chief minister that the Congress party would lift the ban on the sale of arrack in the state if it came to power, Mr Gowda said the Congress had the habit of pushing people to drink arrack.

He charged the Congress leaders with making such false statements in total desperation of facing a defeat at the hustings.

To a query, he said the party would get 100 per victory in Daxina Kannada and reveal the number of seats it would get in the state in two days time.

The BJP would get a majority to form the government, he claimed.

Replying to another query he said he would not make any comment on the statement made by senior BJP Leader K Rama Bhat from Puttur who had challenged the party to take disciplinary action against him (Mr Bhat) for supporting rebel candidate and former BJP MLA Shakunthala Shetty in Puttur.

''We are taking actions against those who indulged in anti-party activity stage by stage. We have already expelled three people from the party, including Ms Shetty. We will also initiate action against Mr Bhat, he added.

The party's prospects of winning the seat in Puttur would be affected by the presence of rebel candidate Ms Shetty.

The BJP would win the seat with a margin of about 2000 votes. No independent candidate had won the seat so for in Puttur, he claimed.

UNI MA SIV GM BDP BST2215