The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders claim that the party is bigger than the individual but they fight elections using Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name, Congress' Hubballi-Dharwad Central candidate Jagadish Shettar said and challenged the saffron party leaders to seek votes without using Modi's image.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Shettar said, "Parties and individuals are equally important. There seemed to be systematic conspiracy to finish Lingayat leaders politically in the BJP. Why did they remove Yediyurappa from CM post?. If it was the age factor, then why is he being used for election campaigns? Like I said earlier, B L Santosh is behind this. Even Yediyurappa had expressed his displeasure against Santosh in the past," Shettar charged.
"The BJP has rubbished Santosh's alleged statement against Lingayats calling it a fake and conspiracy to mislead Lingayats. But what's stopping the BJP to get the episode probed. They buried Nalin Kateel's audio clip too. The BJP will feel the pinch of internal dissent in the assembly polls and the 2024 general election," he said.
Shettar said no amount of pressure tactics by national and state leaders will stop him from winning by record margin.
Published 08 May 2023, 16:39 IST