Kalaburagi: Enthused by the turnout of Veerashaiva-Lingayats at a convention organised by his party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, State BJP Chief B.S. Yeddyurappa declared that he will tour every taluk after the polls to unite the community, which is divided in the wake of the movement for separate Lingayat religion status.
“I have not seen such an impressive turnout of people of my community. If you had shown similar unity during the previous Assembly election, we would have won 140 seats and I would have become Chief Minister. But some people hatched a conspiracy and prevented it from happening,” Mr Yeddyurappa stated.
He claimed that considering the response the BJP is getting all across the state, it is clear that his party will win 22 seats. “I’m ready to write the number in my blood. At the national level, we will win 300 seats”, Mr Yeddyurappa declared. Taking strong exception to veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s comment that “not even a dog” from the RSS-BJP had sacrificed for the cause of independence, Mr Yeddyurappa asked him not to speak “so lightly”.
“Is Mr Kharge aware of the sacrifice Dr Shyam Prakash Mukherjee made for the country? Does he not know about the insults the Congress heaped on Dr Ambedkar by defeating him in an election and subsequently not giving him a place for burial? Mr Kharge should not talk lightly just because he has money-muscle power and community support”, Mr Yeddyurappa remarked. and lashed out at Mr Kharge for the backwardness of Hyderabad Karnataka region.
