VIJAYAPURA: Karnataka Home Minister M B Patil on Monday said that, "As many as 10 parliamentarians of Lingayat community have been elected in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka but only one MP from the same community has been inducted into the Union cabinet. It clearly shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government disrespected the Lingayat community."
Speaking to reporters, Minister Patil questioned the induction of Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi into the cabinet. "On what criteria has MP Joshi been given the cabinet rank? Belagavi MP Suresh Angadi is the senior and he has been given Minister of State rank, which is not acceptable. BJP has not done justice to Lingayat leaders and their community."
Referring to the comments of Union Minister of State Suresh Angadi that BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa will become Chief Minister at the earliest, Patil said, "Minister Angadi, before predicting who will be the CM for Karnataka, should question himself as to why he was given a lesser post than Union Minister Joshi. If I was in his place, then I would have rejected the position which was given to Angadi."
Commenting on rumours of expansion of the Cabinet, Patil said, "The Congress high command will decide whether the Cabinet should be extended or not. I deny the allegations that we have lost the elections only because of the coalition and that there are also other factors that went against us in the polls. The Balakot airstrike and Pulwama attack has also played a major role in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. We are yet to identify the cause behind our poor performance in the polls."