Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K.S. Eshwarappa has taken exception to MLAs-elect from the Bharatiya Janata Party, who won the recent byelections after quitting the Congress, calling Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah as their “leader”.
Ramesh Jarkiholi, Byrathi Basavaraj, S.T. Somashekar, and B.C. Patil, who quit the Congress and got elected on the BJP ticket in the byelections, had met Mr. Siddaramaiah recently in a hospital where he was admitted for a heart ailment. Some of these leaders had said that though they had joined the BJP, they still considered Mr. Siddaramaiah their leader.
At a meeting of BJP workers here on Tuesday, Mr. Eshwarappa without taking names said BJP leaders had welcomed the newcomers to the party with an open heart, strived hard for their victory in the byelections and they would be looked after with affection here. He said, “The BJP firmly believes in Hindutva ideology and Mr. Siddaramaiah is a strong critic of it. As these leaders have got elected on the BJP ticket, calling Mr. Siddaramaiah as their leader is not acceptable.” He said, “It is necessary to provide orientation for our leaders on the ideology of the party.”
He reiterated that the BJP would fight the next Assembly elections on the basis of its organisational strength and would not depend on a single leader, caste or money power.
