Karnataka - Shimoga   

Yeddyurappa asks Bangarappa to prove his popularity

SHIMOGA: Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has thrown a challenge to the former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa to contest the Lok Sabha election against his son B.Y. Raghavendra without his presence in the Shimoga constituency till the polls are over.

He threw this challenge at a press conference here on Sunday in response to Mr. Bangarappa’s repeated complaints that he had been visiting the constituency frequently to campaign for his son.

He recalled that Mr. Bangarappa had successfully contested the Assembly election from Sorab — his home constituency in Shimoga district — in 1983 without “visiting” the constituency even once.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said: “he is free to repeat that performance this time also if he is so confident about his popularity.”

The Chief Minister said: “if he accepts this challenge I will not visit the Shimoga parliamentary constituency from tomorrow till the polling is held on April 30. I will also ask my son not to remain in the constituency till the elections are over. Let this election be fought on the plank of popularity, although it would be a contest between the two un-equals.”

He said that when Mr. Bangarappa contested his first Assembly election in 1967, his son was not yet born. “But still, Mr. Raghavendra and I are prepared to fight this election without campaigning openly if Mr. Bangarappa is ready to accept our challenge,” he said.

Mr. Yeddyurappa that outcome of the Lok Sabha elections could not be considered as a referendum on the administration of the BJP Government in the State as issues involved were different.

“But still, leaders of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) who are jealous of the achievements of my government may try to turn the heat on me. Let them do it. I have no regrets,” he said.

He alleged that there had been a tacit agreement between the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) on fielding weak candidates against each other in the elections for their mutual benefit.

In the Gulbarga parliamentary constituency, the Janata Dal (S) had fielded Babu Naik only to improve the winning chances of Congress candidate M. Mallikarjun Kharge who is pitted against Revu Naik Belamagi of the BJP, the Chief Minister said.

There was such an agreement between the two parties in the recent byelection to the eight Assembly constituencies, he said.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said that pro-BJP wave was discernible in the State even before electioneering had picked up momentum.

He said that his party would fight the elections on three issues: people’s “disenchantment” with the Congress-led UPA Government, Centre’s failure to check the spiralling of prices of food and essential commodities, and achievements of the BJP Government in the State.

Referring to “baseless” criticism against him by president of the Janata Dal (S) H.D. Deve Gowda and president of the State unit of the party H.D. Kumaraswamy with regard to permission given to the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises to continue work on the expressway between Bangalore and Mysore, Mr. Yeddyurappa said that he had no role to play in it as the work was continuing according to directions of the High Court and the Supreme Court.

“People will teach them [the Janata Dal-S leaders] a lesson if they do not refrain from making such irresponsible statements,” he said.

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