Bengaluru: Overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response from party workers to his appointment as the new BJP state president, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa promised them that he will work under the party framework and will not take any unilateral decision without consulting BJP core committee leaders.
At the function at Gayathri Vihar in Palace Grounds on Thursday, party workers, police and the media had to sweat it out with the air-conditioners not functioning but they still waited patiently to hear him. Mr Yeddyurappa in his speech, communicated the message from party national president Amit Shah that indiscipline and dissident activity would not be tolerated.
"Mr Shah and the Prime Minister have given me instructions to work to bring BJP to power in the 2018 election by winning 150 plus seats and also win more than 25 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This task will not be possible without the help of senior leaders and workers", he said.
“We have only 47 MLAs in the Assembly, there is no party representation in nine districts and in 13, the BJP has won only one or two seats. At present, our representation is only in Belagavi and Bengaluru Urban district.
We have a big task increasing our strength and representation in the remaining districts, to achieve this task, each workers must put in a lot of hard work, I will not let you (workers) sit idle, since only two years are left for the elections. We should gear up for the elections henceforth", Mr Yeddyurappa told party workers.
He asked the workers to arrange party rallies in the districts and in assembly constituencies. Workers should organize rallies by mobilising more than 10,000 people at the district level and 5,000 people in each Assembly segment, he said.
"Our aim to ensure Congress free Karnataka in 2018.
I welcome leaders and workers who are interested in joining BJP. If they want to join us, I will take a decision after discussing this with senior and local leaders. In the coming days, responsibility will be given to local leaders in the districts and taluks, who are well connected with voters", Mr Yeddyurappa assured.
The former CM said he will embark on a state tour immediately.For three to four days in a week, he will tour the state and in the remaining days, he will available at the BJP headquarter in Bengaluru.
Ananth too joins chorus, praises ex-CM
The BJP’s state core committee leaders including Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ananth Kumar have openly declared that newly appointed BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the 2018 Assembly elections. Mr Kumar was till now, considered the rival of Yeddyurappa in state politics.
At a well attended rally at Palace Grounds in the city, BJP state leaders made it a point to put up a show of unity and promised the new party president that they would join hands with him to bring the party to power in the state. They praised the former chief minister profusely and recalled his contributions during his four decades of political struggle.
At the rally, it was quite evident going by the body language and gestures of leaders that they were strictly adhering to the dikat issued by party national president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both of whom had given the green signal to project the Lingayat strongman as the CM candidate for 2018.
Mr Ananth Kumar started his speech saying, "Yeddyurappa will become the Chief Minister a second time, I wish him all success. Under his leadership we will unitedly work for the party", he said.
" From now onwards, the countdown for Siddaramaiah's downfall has started. Under Yeddyurappa's leadership, the BJP will return to power with an absolute majority in the Assembly. We will be with you (BSY) in this struggle. The appointment of Yeddyurappa as state president is a good sign for the party, with this the golden age has started in the BJP", he remarked.
Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar too endorsed Yeddyurappa’s choice as the CM candidate for the next polls. “Under his leadership, the BJP will come to power, we will join hands with him to strengthen the party organization in the state", Mr Shettar promised.
