Former deputy chief minister KS Eshwarappa, who has decided to face the Lok Sabha polls from Shimoga as an independent candidate, said he would meet Union Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday following the latter's invitation. He also made it clear that he would back out from the electoral fray only if state BJP president B Y Vijayendra is replaced before the polls.
Speaking to media persons here on Tuesday, he said, "Amit Shah, popularly known as the 'Iron man of Modern India', had called me and asked me not to face the Lok Sabha elections. But I explained to him that my battle is to free the Karnataka BJP from the control of one family. Yediyurappa's one son B Y Raghavendra is the incumbent MP and BJP nominee from Shimoga and his younger son B Y Vijayendra is the president of Karnataka BJP."
"But the workers across the state are in pain. The leaders of the backward classes and dalits have been sidelined. Those who fought for Hindutva have been sidelined. I am facing the polls to rectify these flaws in the state BJP."
He said, "Amit Shah has invited me to meet him and hence I am going to New Delhi and will explain everything to him. The Home Minister has promised to rectify the flaws which I pointed out while talking to me over the phone. But I argued that when I met him 3 months earlier and explained the same issues, no steps were taken. So, I am contesting in the polls."
He added, "Even if I meet PM Modi in Delhi, I will seek his blessings for my victory in the Lok Sabha polls to Shimoga."
Terming B S Yediyurappa as a 'cheater', Eshwarappa said the former chief minister had given MLC, MP ticket promises to many leaders in the state but was never loyal to his words.
"Yediyurappa is not trustworthy and he is a big cheater," Eshwarappa rued.
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