Former Karnataka deputy chief minister KS Eshwarappa refused to share the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Shimoga on Monday. While PM Modi addressed a public event in his very own backyard in the run up to Lok Sabha Elections 2024, skipping the event in protest was a huge step for him, being a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and an admirer of PM Modi.
However, he said that his anger is not against the Prime Minister, but against the “dynastic politics for BS Yediyurappa.” He said that his fight was against BSY and his dynastic politics in Karnataka.
On not sharing the dais with PM Modi in Shimoga, the senior BJP leader clarified that his anger is not directed towards Narendra Modi. “But then during the rally, Modi ji will be appealing to people to vote for BY Raghavendra, the son of BSY. My fight is against that very family. So why should I be on stage there,” he questioned.
“I am not worried that a ticket was denied. My point is that when PM Modi speaks of the BJP advocating a principle against dynastic politics, the exact opposite is seen in Karnataka. We see how the Congress is under the control of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In Karnataka, the BJP is under the control of Yediyurappa and his sons,” Eshwarappa said in an exclusive interview with News18.
On March 18, the day PM Modi addressed a massive BJP rally in the high profile seat Shimoga, which is also known as the fiefdom of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, Eshwarappa was seen temple and mutt hopping seeking blessings of spiritual gurus and rallying their support for his independent candidature in the upcoming election.
The senior BJP leader is extremely miffed and said that he has ‘firmed his mind to contest as an independent candidate’ from the seat that he expected the BJP would give him or his son a Lok Sabha ticket, having been denied the ticket in the 2023 Assembly Polls.
“Hindutva must remain and BJP must come out of the clutches of dynastic politics,” he said adding that he will always support PM Modi but he has decided to blow the bugle of change and root out the “problems that have been created by BSY and his family.”
“We have seen that those who support Hindutva, be it Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, Prathap Simha or Nalin Kateel, Sadananda Gowda, or me, all of us who propagate Hindutva and speak proudly about our cultural roots, they (BSY and team) are creating problems for us. All those who work for the party are pained by how the BSY family are treating all. The Karnataka BJP must see a change. That is why I am contesting this election,” said Eshwarappa.
Last year, Eshwarappa had announced his retirement from electoral politics. At the time, Eshwarappa, who was seeking a ticket for himself or his son Kanthesh, was asked to step aside and make way for fresh faces, on the advice of the party’s central leadership. The leader announced his retirement, and soon after received a call from PM Modi congratulating him for it.
“Modi described me as a disciplined soldier of the BJP and a role model for others,” Eswarappa said then as a telephone call by the Prime Minister to personally appreciate his decision to accept the party’s choice came as a surprise to him.
With inputs from News18