United' BS Yeddyurappa, KSE vow to defeat Congress in Assembly elections

BENGALURU: A day after they were hauled over the coals by party president Amit Shah, state unit president B S Yeddyurappa and leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, K.S. Eshwarappa, chanted the mantra of unity, and vowed to defeat the ruling Congress in Karnataka.

On their return from New Delhi, where they were told by Mr Shah that they were not indispensible for the party and should either fall in line or face the consequences, the leaders said they would tour the state with a single-point agenda of ousting the Congress.

While Mr Yeddyurappa, who had refused to review appointments of district presidents and other office bearers, admitted to confusion in appointment of four district presidents and other office bearer posts in other districts, Mr Eshwarappa who had said he was not sure whether the OBCs would vote for the BJP in next Assembly elections, announced that intentions of party colleagues and himself was to ensure Mr Yeddyurappa’s election as the next Chief Minister.

“We are happy to announce that we resolved our differences in the presence of our national leaders. We will not give primacy to our egos and fight against each other. Our single point agenda is to turn Karnataka into a Congress-mukth state. To achieve this, we will jointly tour the state and fight against the Congress,” said Mr Yeddyurappa, adding that Mr Eshwarappa would be appointed convener of the OBC Morcha.

On his part, Mr Eshwarappa said “We will decide whether to participate in the activities of Sangolli Rayanna Brigade (SRB), but will organize functions in the name of Sangolli Rayanna everywhere and participate in the functions.".