K S Eshwarappa tells Vijayendra, “I won’t contest. I’m quitting as president of the Karnataka BJP.”
If BJP state president B Y Vijayendra really wants senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa to drop out of the independent candidacies in Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, then Eshwarappa should resign from office.
Why should the family of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa get all the important jobs in the party? In answer to Vijayendra’s appeal that he think again before contesting, Eshwarappa said.
“There is a need to work together to make Narendra Modi prime minister again,” said Vijayendra, who came here on Sunday to support his brother and BJP candidate B Y Raghavendra. By a margin of two lakh votes, Raghavendra is going to win for the fourth time. I so respectfully ask Eshwarappa to rethink his choice.
According to Eshwarappa, Vijayendra should step down as state president if he wants him to not run for office. He questioned, “Who gives you the right to suggest that Eshwarappa is speaking with the central leaders?
Eshwarappa intensified his onslaught, claiming that Vijayendra is an MLA, his brother Raghavendra is an MP, and Vijayendra’s father Yediyurappa is a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board. “In order to guarantee that a member of their family would be appointed to the position of BJP state president, the Yediyurappa family left the position empty for six months. Should Yediyurappa and his offspring have absolute authority? said Eshwarappa.
He issued a challenge to the Yediyurappa family, demanding that they award the position of BJP state president to him, an OBC, or to the Lingayat former minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, or to the Vokkaliga party leader CT Ravi.
“Ask your brother not to compete before pleading with me not to. I still work for the BJP. I’ve made the decision to run. What can the BJP do if I run for office? You mean to outshine me? All you can do is that. This time, I will win by a three lakh vote margin. After victory, if I’m ejected, I’ll re-join the BJP,” he said.
He said he was unable to meet the senior brass when they summoned him to New Delhi. He said, “This means that the BJP needs to defeat Raghavendra in the elections and be freed from the Yediyurappa family.”
