Minister and Congress leader Lakshmi Hebbalkar speaking at a party campaign meeting in Hooli village of Belagavi district on Friday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
They are going around asking votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Why is that? Why can they not seek votes for themselves? asked Minister and Congress leader Lakshmi Hebbalkar.
She was addressing a party campaign meeting in Hooli village near Saundatti of Belagavi district on Friday.
Her son and Youth Congress leader Mrinal Hebbalkar is the Congress candidate from the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat.
“They are asking you to look up and vote for their leader Narendra Modi. This has been happening for 10 years now. Why is that? Are the candidates hesitant to seek votes for themselves? Are they afraid that if they do so, they will not get any votes?” she asked.
“It can mean only one thing. It means that the candidates by themselves have no achievements to their credit. They do not deserve to fight the polls on their own merit. They have nothing to show in terms of their individual achievements. That is why they are adopting this strategy,” she said.
“We cannot sit quiet accepting their claims. We have to ensure that our local representative in Parliament also works for our welfare. We should be convinced that he or she will develop our district and region. That is why our vote should go to the candidate and not any other leader above the party hierarchy,” she said.
She sought votes for Mrinal Hebbalkar and assured the voters that he will stand with them at all times.
She gave details of what she called the effective implementation of the five guarantee schemes. “I have done my bit as a Minister for Women and Child Development. We have distributed monthly payments to over 1.2 crore women under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme,” she added.
She complained that the Union government did not cooperate with the State when it decided to distribute 10 kg of foodgrains to the poor. “We had to switch to direct benefit transfer instead,” she said. All guarantees and other schemes are aimed at protecting the poor from price hike that was a result of the Union government’s policies, the Minister said.
“We need a Member of Parliament who works for the people and the district. We need a representative who speaks for the people in Parliament when payments to the State like tax distribution or calamity relief are delayed. We should not support representatives who do not raise their voice about the district in Parliament,” she said.