Former Minister and BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa said that he is happy with the proposed BJP and JD(S) alliance for the coming Lok Sabha polls. “With this alliance, we will win all 28 seats, and the Congress will be reduced to zero,” he said in a press conference in Shivamogga on Monday, September 11.
Mr. Eshwarappa said the BJP had won 25 of the 28 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections. The party’s high command would not wish to give up even one seat. “Earlier, Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost power as he was facing shortage by one seat. The party will not give up any chance to improve our position in the coming polls. The alliance will benefit both parties,” he said.
He commented that the Congress had become scared after learning about the BJP-JD(S) alliance. “In fact, the first non-Congress government came to power in the State under the leadership of Ramakrishna Hegde in 1983 with the support of the BJP. Then Siddaramaiah became chairman of the Kannada Kavalu Samiti. He enjoyed power for the first time with the BJP’s support. Now, he terms the BJP a communal party,” Eshwarappa commented. He also congratulated former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for their decision to have an alliance with the BJP.
Further, he said that the number of farmer suicides have increased in recent days. The Congress government had not responded to the woes of the farming community. “I demand the State government to release a white paper on the number of farmer suicides and the relief offered to their families,” he said.
Criticising Minister for Textiles and Sugar Shivanand Patil’s recent comment on farmers’ suicide, Mr. Eshwarappa said he had never heard such a comment on farmers’ suicide in his political career. Mr. Patil’s comment was highly deplorable, and he did not deserve to be minister.
BJP’s district president T.D. Megharaj and others were present at the press conference.
