Yogeshwar dismisses reports that he is joining Congress

‘I haven’t met anybody in Congress nor has anyone in that party contacted me’

Minister for Forests C.P. Yogeshwar on Saturday dismissed reports that he was quitting the BJP and joining Congress.

The Minister also said that the party had entrusted him the responsibility of selecting candidates in Mandya and Ramanagaram districts for the Assembly elections.

Speaking to presspersons here, he said the performance of the Opposition MLAs was not up to the mark and as the BJP government had performed well his party stood a good chance of securing a large number of seats in the elections.

Rejecting the suggestion that people were disillusioned with the BJP for the infighting and corruption, Mr. Yogeshwar cited the large crowd at Channapatna, where Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar launched the modernisation of the Visvesvaraya Canal. This was in spite of the fact that farmers were upset over the handling of the Cauvery issue, he added.

He said the party’s chances in the elections would greatly improve if the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa was treated in a manner befitting his stature.

Ruling out joining the Congress, Mr. Yogeshwar said the BJP had made him Minister and there was six more months to serve the people.

The Minister said he had not met anybody in the Congress nor had anyone from that party contacted him, and alleged that all this talk of switching sides was the handiwork of people who could not stomach his progress.

Cane price

Mr. Yogeshwar, who is also Mandya district in-charge, said that sugarcane growers were happy with the government decision to fix cane price at Rs. 2,400 a quintal and for other development works.