BENGALURU: As the political storm continues to brew over the chief minister’s reported remarks about his party’s central leaders being in the know of developments related to the rebel MLAs’ resignation, BS Yediyurappa on Monday dared Opposition leader Siddaramaiah to contest elections.
“If you have the guts, face elections instead of trying to create confusion in the SC and among people. You are a former CM, Opposition leader and an advocate, you should know how to behave,” the CM thundered. “Under Siddaramaiah’s leadership, Congress won just one seat in the state. Now, he is doing all these things to cover up his failures,” he said.
Accusing Siddaramaiah for the rebels’ resignation and for the fall of the coalition, the CM said Siddaramaiah and former Speaker Ramesh Kumar conspired to disqualify the MLAs. The BJP has nothing to do with the rebel MLAs’ decision, he said.
Continuing his tirade against the former CM, Yediyurappa said under Siddaramaiah’s leadership, the Congress will never come to power in the state. “There is no truth in what they are saying about the video. They should be ashamed of it,” Yediyurappa said.
BJP State General Secretary N Ravi Kumar also rubbished the Congress’ allegations, and called the video a “fake CD”. “Siddaramaiah had conspired to bring down the coalition government while he was staying at Shanti Vana (resort), and a CD of his conversation was also released. He is now doing this to discredit the BJP, but he won’t be successful,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress district units across the state staged protests demanding the CM’s resignation and Amit Shah’s dismissal from the Union cabinet. According to them, footage Yediyurappa’s speech at the party meeting in Hubballi proved that the BJP central leaders were responsible for the resignation of the rebels.