Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday commenced the State tour of Jana Sankalpa Yatre that seeks to drum up support for the BJP ahead of 2023 Assembly polls in an aggressive manner by launching a tirade against Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah.
Accompanied by his predecessor B.S. Yediyurappa, he made it a point to invoke government’s recent decision to hike quota for Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
Relaunching Rahul
Mr. Bommai, who began his tour from Gillesuguru village of Raichur Rural Assembly Constituency in Raichur district, ridiculed the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Mr. Gandhi that is presently passing through Karnataka as a yatra that is being taken out only to “relaunch Rahul Gandhi.” The sole intention of Bharat Jodo yatra is to help retain Mr. Gandhi’s identity, he said.
Incidentally, Mr. Gandhi is scheduled to visit this Assembly constituency when the Bharat Jodo Yatra passes through Raichur district.
Describing the decision taken by his government to increase reservation for SCs and STs, he questioned what the Congress that was in power for a long time did for the welfare of the oppressed communities. The Chief Minister trained his guns at Mr. Siddaramaiah and remarked that he who comes from Socialist background had actually forgotten Socialist ideology after he joined the Congress.
Dig at Siddaramaiah
In an obvious reference to the videos of Mr. Siddaramaiah running during the yatra holding the hand of Mr. Gandhi, the Chief Minister said, “You are working under the instructions of a young boy.” He said though Mr. Siddaramaiah was a leader of Ahinda (Kannada acronym for Minorities, OBCs and Dalits) communities, OBCs and Dalits had already abandoned him.
Taking a dig at Mr. Siddaramaiah for calling him a “puppet of RSS”, Mr. Bommai argued that RSS was a patriotic organisation. “The contribution of RSS in nation building is immense. What morality does Mr. Siddaramaiah have to criticize it?” he questioned. Accusing the erstwhile Congress regime of indulging in corruption scandals, he reiterated that they would be inquired into.
On his part, Mr. Yediyurappa expressed confidence that the BJP would win 150 of the total 224 seats in Assembly elections in 2023 and said that no one could prevent the party from coming to power again. “The dream of Mr. Siddaramaiah to become the Chief Minister again will not come true. He is making allegations against the BJP government related to corruption. Everybody knows about him. Who gave him a luxury wristwatch when he was the Chief Minister and why?” he asked.
The BJP leaders are touring the State in three different teams. While the teams led by party national general secretary Arun Singh and State president Nalin Kumar Kateel have already begun their tour, the team spearheaded by Mr. Bommai and Mr. Yediyurappa will cover about 50 Assembly seats in their tour.
