SHIVAMOGGA/BENGALURU: Following up on a threat, KS Eshwarappa, former deputy CM and senior BJP functionary, on Friday said he will contest the Lok Sabha polls as an independent from Shimoga segment. The OBC leader’s rebellion could pose a serious threat to the party’s prospects across the state.
Eshwarappa is incensed with BJP parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa for not securing the Haveri ticket for his son, KE Kantesh. In a mark of retaliation, Eshwarappa now plans to queer the pitch for BY Raghavendra, incumbent Shimoga MP and Yeddiyurappa’s son. Raghavendra is BJP’s official candidate. Eshwarappa insisted that it is a fight against “dynastic politics and for Hindutva”. “It is not against PM Modi,” he said. He made the announcement after a nearly two-hour meeting with supporters in Shivamogga.
At the meeting, 76-year-old Eshwarappa targeted Yediyurappa’s family reiterating that the former CM had “cheated” him. “While Yed iyurappa lobbied for senior BJP functionaries Shobha Karandlaje and Basavaraj Bommai, he dumped me,” Eshwarappa said.
He added: “I am not here for political revenge. Ye diyurappa is a member of the parliamentary board, his younger son is an MLA and elder son an MP who is contesting for the fourth time. This is Congress-style family politics.”
He asked why Yediyurappa had jettisoned seniors like Pratap Simmha, Nalin Kumar Kateel and DV Sadananda Gowda although they “promoted Hindutva”. “I breathe Hindutva. But if we cut open Yediyurappa’s heart, you will find his two sons and Karandlaje there,” he said.
He said BJP has fielded candidates based on caste and dared the high command to penalise him.
More than a thousand supporters of various castes and communities attended Friday’s meeting, including at least 10 BJP corporators from Shivamogga City Corporation.
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