Exuding confidence for his party winning in the upcoming Assembly election and forming a government in the State, BJP State unit president and Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa said he would make Malikayya Guttedar, senior Congressman who recently joined BJP, a Minister in his cabinet. He was addressing a public gathering in Afzalpur after accompanying Mr. Guttedar who filed his nomination on Friday for contesting the polls in Afzalpur constituency.
“Malikayya Guttedar had approached me a year ago expressing his desire to quit Congress and join BJP. I had asked him not to put a burden of a by-election on the people and advised him to stay in Congress. Unable to bear the hostile condition, he has now joined the BJP. His entry to our party has given us great strength in the region. We will win the polls and form the government. I will make Mr. Guttedar a Minister in my cabinet and come to Afzalpur,” he said.
Referring to the Cabinet resolution to accord minority status to Lingayat, Mr. Yeddyurappa alleged that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress divided the community just to prevent him from becoming CM. Obliquely addressing in his own community, the Lingayats, he repeatedly said, “You should not vote for Congress. You should think that your vote is not for Malikayya Guttedar alone, but for me as well. Don’t expect Guttedar to campaign in your constituency as he has a greater responsibility of campaigning for BJP candidates and ensuring a victory of party candidates at least in 15 constituencies.”
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In an attempt to impress Kabbaliga (Koli) and Maratha communities that form a significant voter base in the region, Mr. Yeddyurappa assured all efforts to put the former in ST category and the latter in OBC 2A category. “If we come to power in the State, I will convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to add the Koli community to ST category. I will also put Maratha community in OBC 2A category within six months of assuming power,” he said. His assurance included raising widow and old-age pensions from ₹600 to ₹1000 a month, 12-hour power supply (in two stretches) to irrigation pump-sets and ₹1 lakh crore spending for irrigation projects.
Referring to speculations of the CM possibly contesting from Badami, Mr. Yeddyurappa said the former did not have the confidence to win in Mysuru. “If Siddaramaiah has the guts, let him contest in any of the constituencies in Mysuru. In fact, he has lost his ground in his own district and this has made him run away to Badami,” he said.