Mallikarjun Kharge missed CM’s post as he is selfish: BJP leader KS Eshwrappa

Kalaburagi: BJP leader K.S. Eshwrappa came down heavily on veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, alleging that he missed the bus to the chief minister's post due to his "selfishness".

"Mr Kharge harmed the political career of many senior leaders of his own party, such as Malikayya Guttedar, Baburao Chinchansur, Dr A.B. Maalakaraddi and others to build the political career of his son Priyank Kharge. This has been the hallmark of Mr Kharge's politics and he has paid the price for it. Mr Kharge himself should be blamed for his failure to become the chief minister. Mr Kharge has not promoted second line leadership either among Other Backward Classes or his own community," he said.

Addressing an OBC convention held here on Saturday, he blamed Mr Kharge for not evincing interest in passing the Bill aimed at providing constitutional status to the OBCs. "It's unfortunate that Mr Kharge has used the OBC community as a vote bank in the past, but has failed to uplift the community by giving them education, employment and a better life. Disappointed with Mr Kharge's 'family politics', Dr Umesh Jadhav and others have resigned from Congress and joined the BJP. This is just the beginning, you will see more entries. Congress leaders are queuing up to join BJP. Soon after the Lok Sabha elections, there will be an exodus," he said. He described ex-CM Siddaramaiah as the "champion of lies and a fake OBC leader". He took a dig at Mr Siddaramaiah's "immaturity" to predict poll outcomes despite remaining in politics for a long time.