BS Yeddyurappa dares Siddaramaiah to open debate on farmer issues

Ballari: Kickstarting the second leg of ‘Raitha Chaithanya Yatre’ from here on Thursday, former chief minister and BJP national vice-president B.S. Yeddyurappa has challenged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to a public debate on the farmers’ issue and warned him not to take farmers suicide lightly.

Mr Yeddyurappa said, “Congress came to power owing to the mistakes committed by the previous BJP regime, but it should not betray the faith of the people. CM Siddaramaiah must understand that power is not permanent and for this reason, he should stop playing with the lives of the farmers or else he will pay the price,” he thundered addressing a massive rally at district stadium. He said that even the previous BJP government had faced the drought situation, but managed to provide relief to the farming community.

“I challenge Siddaramaiah, let him join me on the same stage to an open debate and call about two lakh people to witness this debate. We can both discuss about how we have worked for the farmers. I am sure that more than 70 per cent of the people who attend that public debate would curse the Siddaramaiah-led government for farmers’ plight,” Mr Yeddyurappa stated adding that the COngress government has become stagnant and was neither useful to farming community nor to industry.

Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar took on the Chief Minister for allegedly burdening the state’s exchequer with about Rs 42,000 crore loans in the last two years. “Siddaramaiah government has become unpopular and has failed to deliver pro-people governance. He has turned into a liar and is keeping himself busy by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his every mistake,” said Mr Shettar adding that he will be removed for his bad governance once AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi visits the state.