Bengaluru, 2 Nov

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday appealed to businesses and establishments in Bengaluru, employing people from Bihar in their organisations, to grant them three to four days of leave, to enable them to cast a vote during the Assembly polls in their home state.

Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress President, appealed to people of Bihar, residing in Bengaluru to vote for 'Mahagathbandhan', while pitching it as the only alternative for the State’s progress.

The much awaited Bihar Assembly polls, where the Opposition bloc -- Mahagathbandhan-- led by the RJD and the Congress is striving to unseat the ruling NDA, will be held over two phases on 6 and 11 November and votes will be counted on 14 November.

"People of Bihar are hardworking. I'm happy interacting with them. Many of them reside here and speak Kannada. While many of them have their votes here, some have retained their votes there (in Bihar). I had come here to appeal to them to vote for Mahagathbandhan," Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters after addressing people from Bihar residing in Bengaluru, he said, "I appeal to all the businesses, establishments, and contractors in the city that if there is anyone working in their organisation who has a vote in Bihar, to give them leave for three to four days, to enable them to cast their votes."

Stating that the Mahagathbandhan should come to power in Bihar and Tejashwi Yadav should become the chief minister, Shivakumar said “All of you have said that I deserve a bigger post. That is not important for me, I would be happier if you all vote for Mahaghatbandhan in Bihar. Nitish Kumar is at the fag end of his political career, Tejaswi Yadav has been declared as the CM candidate for Bihar.”

“Lakhs of voters have been removed from the voters list in Bihar. We are trying to save your votes in Bihar. I appeal all of you go to Bihar and vote for Mahaghatbandhan. We will direct Credai, contractors and other organisations to declare a 3 day holiday so that you all can go to Bihar to vote,” he added.

Indicating the possibility of him going to Bihar for campaigning, he said, "I will not meet anyone from the High Command, everyone is busy with the elections."

The wish for a bigger role to Shivakumar has come amid speculation about chief minister change in Karnataka in the days ahead.

Noting people from Bihar saying that they don't have any office in Bengaluru for their Association, the DyCM said, “It would not have been possible to build buildings in Bengaluru without you. You are hard workers and work with diligence. We have decided to allocate a site for Bihar Association in Karnataka. We have never discriminated against you as outsiders. We had made arrangements to send you home by arranging buses during Covid when the bus fares shot up”.

When the DyCM tried to get his speech translated to their local language, the audience said, “We are not Biharis but Karnataka Biharis and we know Kannada.”