I am an Opposition leader now, says Yeddyurappa

 Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who formally became a member of his new political outfit, Karnataka Janata Party, after quitting the BJP, on Friday, declared that he will henceforth be donning the role of an Opposition leader.

He threatened Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar of dire consequence if his supporters in the government, both MLAs and Ministers, were ‘ill-treated.’ He accused the Shettar government of neglecting development works and said he will soon release statistics to show how Karnataka has suffered in the recent months in terms of development.

However, he said he will not try to topple the government as he will have to take the blame for doing it. In his maiden press conference after joining his new party – Karnataka Janata Party (KJP), Yeddyurappa spoke about his future political plans and shared his views on number of issues related to the State’s political scene. Yeddyurappa’s take on important issues:

On next Assembly elections

The KJP will field candidates in all 224 constituencies and I am confident that the party will get absolute majority to form the government.

The Haveri convention scheduled on December 9 will result in political polarisation. A lot of leaders of other parties are in touch with me. Already, there is a fierce competition among the ticket aspirants for about 100 constituencies. If the trend continues, I will not have pre-poll alliance with any party.

On quitting BJP

The BJP leaders deceived me, and hence I decided to quit. They had promised me to make chief minister the moment I get some relief from court (in the illegal mining case). But they let me down. Moreover, my dream of kalyana Karnataka has remained unaccomplished. So I need the second term as the chief minister.

On his political enemies

I have no enemies. I only have friends. I will not criticise any party. I will seek vote on the basis of work I did during my three and a half year tenure as the chief minister. From today, I have decided not to speak about leaders of my former party.

On his supporters in BJP joining KJP

BJP MLAs and ministers were eager to resign along with me. But I asked them not to do so. I have asked them not to attend the forthcoming Haveri convention also.
They will all join me at an appropriate time.

On regional parties not faring well in the State

It is the era of regional parties. It is regional parties that are dominating the political scene at the Centre. Whether it is the Cauvery issue or according special status to Hyderabad Karnataka, people of Karnataka too have realised that they will benefit only if they vote for a regional party.

On post-poll alliance

I have not given any thought to it. The decision in this regard will be taken based on number of MPs the KJP wins in the next elections.