Mangaluru : The Congress in Dakshina Kannada is geared up for the gram panchayat polls and is confident of success of candidates supported by it.

“Various pro-poor schemes launched by the Siddaramaiah government are bound to keep the Congress on a better footing,” said B. Ramanath Rai, district in-charge Minister. Though the election is not held on the basis of political parties, the Congress members would emerge victorious in almost all panchayats, he said.

Mr. Rai told presspersons here on Thursday it was the Congress that had laid a strong foundation for the panchayat raj system in the country during the late Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership. Claiming that the party has always been pro-poor, the Minister castigated the Bharatiya Janata Party for not delivering on the promises.

Mr. Rai said the Siddaramaiah government had launched a number of social welfare measures, including the free-rice scheme to BPL families, interest-free crop loan to farmers, and loans at subsidised rates to farmers. However, opposition parties, particularly the BJP, had been misleading the public, he alleged.

The Minister, who is also the president of the district Congress committee, said that though the BJP had been in power in the zilla panchayat and represents the Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency, the party has always been blaming the State government for lopsided developmental works. People are wise enough to take a call on such allegations, he said.