BELAGAVI: A close confidant of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa — eight-time MLA Umesh Katti — has said that Yeddyurappa will become Chief Minister once a new government is formed at the Centre, after the ongoing LS polls. Katti said, his aim was to become Chief Minister and not Deputy Chief Minister in the future.
However, he said, he would want to make Yeddyurappa the CM, soon after the Lok Sabha polls end. Katti said, his main objective was to fight for the overall development of North Karnataka region which was being neglected time and again by the governments. “The state government sets aside a paltry 10 per cent of funds in the budget for North Karnataka against 90 per cent to South Karnataka.
Such a gross discrimination against North Karnataka will not be tolerated hereafter,” he said while reiterating, that this is why he wanted to become the CM. Before he went to cast his vote on Tuesday at Bellad Bagewadi, Katti said, the BJP would win by a thumping majority in the Lok Sabha polls by bagging at least 300 to 350 seats.
While denying to comment on whether he would support Congress MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi in the latter’s attempt to join BJP, Katti said, it was a personal matter of Jarkiholi family. “If some leaders want to join the BJP, I will always welcome them,” he added.