Ramesh accuses brother Satish of grabbing 1,000 acres of SC/ST land

Belagavi: The fight between the Jarkiholi brothers escalated on Saturday, with Ramesh and Satish firing salvos at each other. While disqualified MLA Ramesh called his younger brother a back-stabber, Satish described Ramesh a “non-serious politician,” whose words have no value in public life.

At a convention of supporters in Gokak for the first time since disqualification, Ramesh slammed Satish: “He is a back-stabber. He and MB Patil are responsible for the fall of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. We’ll teach him a lesson in the byelection.”

He accused Satish of trying to create a rift between him and their brother Lakhan. “ He (Satish) has already ruined one brother(Bheemsi) and now he’s doing it to Lakhan by making him contest against me in Gokak,” he said.

Ramesh offered to sacrifice the Gokak seat to Lakhan in the next assembly election. “I’ll contest the bypoll from Gokak and shift to Yamakanamardi to take on Satish. Lakhan can contest from Gokak if he really wants to fight the election,” Ramesh said.

He also alleged that Satish has grabbed around 1,000 acres of land belonging to the SC/ST in the Yamakanamardi segment.

Ramesh said he had high regard for the Congress but it had failed him. “I was meted out injustice in Congress due to which I left. Around 10 Congress MLAs are in touch with me and ready to cross over,” he claimed.

“I’ll announce my decision to join another party soon,” he added.

Ramesh clarified he had not done any black magic to destroy former minister DK Shivakumar, saying, “He’s my best friend.”

Satish told reporters: “Ramesh is not a serious politician. He’s been winning from Gokak since there was no strong candidate against him. When Gokak was hit by floods, he was in Delhi and visiting religious places. He should have used that time for the people of his constituency; now he is holding samavesh,” said Satish.

He added that Congress workers stayed away from the samavesh. “We’ve already sent a proposal to our party chief requesting Lakhan be fielded from Gokak constituency in the byelection,” he added.