BJP leaders display rare unity, attack Siddaramaiah govt

Party begins drought study tour of state from Tumakuru

Senior leaders of the faction-ridden state BJP put up a show of unity on Thursday. The leaders chose Tumakuru to join hands to create an impression that all is well within the party.

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa, his detractor K S Eshwarappa, Union Ministers Ananth Kumar and D V Sadananda Gowda, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar and BJP general secretary in-charge of Karnataka P Muralidhar Rao, assembled at the Siddaganga Mutt on Thursday morning and took the blessings of Shivakumar Swami. Later, they began their ‘drought study tour’ under the banner ‘Jansamparka Abhiyana.’

The BJP leaders visited a Dalit colony in Tumakuru. They had ‘thatte idli’ for breakfast at the residence of party worker Hanumanthappa, at the Dalit colony. While addressing the party workers, the leaders criticised the Siddaramaiah government with the choicest words.

Yeddyurappa said, “The Siddaramaiah government is the Number One corrupt government in the country. Law and order situation has deteriorated in the state. As many as 6,524 murders have taken place in the state in the last four years and nearly 4,000 farmers have committed suicide. The chief minister is unaware of the prevailing drought situation.”

He said the Centre has released funds for taking up drought relief work in Karnataka. But the same has not reached the beneficiaries. The state is not distributing even rice and wheat supplied by the Centre under the public distribution system, he added.

Eshwarappa said “There are some minor differences among us. We will set them right. The party would face the next Assembly elections under the leadership of Yeddyurappa and he would be the next chief minister.

Siddaramaiah became chief minister accidentally, because the BJP had split.”Ananth Kumar claimed that there is crisis in the Congress and the JD(S) but unity in the BJP. “The BJP is in power in 15 states. Karnataka too would become free of the Congress in 2018. The Narendra Modi government has released sufficient funds to handle drought in Karnataka. Siddaramaiah should come out with the facts,” he said.

Shettar said the Siddaramaiah government, which has completed four years, has just secured pass marks. Later, the BJP team moved to Gubbi where a public rally was organised. As in Tumakuru, here too the BJP leaders continued their attack on Siddaramaiah. Eshwarappa said, “The Congress can’t tolerate me and Yeddyurappa working together.”

In the evening, the leaders again addressed the party workers in Tumakuru city. Yeddyurappa said the BJP president Amit Shah is conducting a secret survey in Karnataka to find winnable candidates for the next Assembly elections. The team would move to Chitradurga on Friday to hold public meetings.