Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday advised KJP leader B S Yeddyurappa not to return to the BJP fold “with the intention of achieving something” as he would be cheated again.
Replying to political jibes made by Yeddyurappa and others during the budget discussion, Siddaramaiah said Yeddyurappa himself had said that he was given visha (poison) by those he had fed amrutha (nectar) in the BJP. Now, efforts are being made to reunite him with the party.
“Yeddyurappa, you had a bitter experience already. Would you like to return to the BJP again? I have no problem if you want to. But, as a well-wisher, I suggest that you think twice before taking a decision. You will be cheated again. You will be given poison again,” he said.
Siddaramaiah, referring to the reported efforts of the Opposition parties to unite and fight the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, said that if the Opposition parties dream of pushing the Congress out of power, then they would be disappointed. “Your calculations of unseating me will go wrong. You have already burnt your fingers once by trusting some people in the BJP. Would you like to venture out again?” he asked Yeddyurappa, who was present in the House.
But the former chief minister remained mum.
Siddaramaiah said the Congress would win more than 20 seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections. “You (BSY) had said you would get 150 seats in the Assembly elections and will continue to be the chief minister for 20 years. But you could remain in power for just three years. You also said you had to go to jail because of some central leaders. There is nothing wrong in dreaming. But don’t be under the illusion that you can dislodge the Congress,” he said.
When BJP leader Jagadish Shettar said the Congress was benefited by the division of votes among the Opposition parties, Siddaramaiah said the vote share of the Congress in the Assembly elections was 36.5 per cent, while the combined vote share of the BJP, KJP and BSRC was 32.37 per cent and that of the JD(S) 20.19 per cent. Even the combined efforts of the BJP factions will not help them in coming to power because it is much less than that of the Congress. We have the people’s mandate. In 2008, the BJP had won 110 seats. But it came to power because of ‘Operation Lotus’.”
The chief minister also taunted Shettar by recalling how Yeddyurappa made him the Speaker but not a minister. Immediately, the BJP MLAs hit back saying that even Kagodu Thimmappa’s desire to become a minister was not met by the Congress.
Siddaramaiah emphatically claimed that the Congress would remain in power for the next five years and that he would be the chief minister.
Referring to the negative comments by the Opposition regarding the formation of a co-ordination committee by the Congress party, the chief minister said that it was an internal matter of the party. Such panels are formed in all the Congress-ruled states as per the decision of the high command. The panel’s aim is to increase unity between the party and the party government. The Congress is united and there are no differences among the leaders, he said.