KALABURAGI: As the party does not have a clear majority in the 225-member state Assembly, it has to work under a system, said BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel here on Monday.
Kateel, who is on a statewide tour to strengthen the party base, in a brief chat with the media, answered a question on a “raw” deal to Hyderabad Karnataka in the state Cabinet. “During 2018 Assembly elections, we requested people to elect us with a clear majority. However, no party got a majority on its own. The coalition government that ruled for over a year collapsed due to internal bickering,” he said.
Kateel said, “17 Congress and JDS MLAs resigned to save democracy. The BJP will not forget their contribution. We are waiting for the court verdict. Everything will become clear once they succeed in their legal battle.” “If the BJP had got 115 seats in the 2018 elections, the picture would have been entirely different, and all regions of the state would have got good representation. Now, we have to wait for those who sacrificed their post, and we have to work under a system to protect the state government as well,” he said.
Denying that under the present system BS Yediyurappa has become a weak chief minister, he questioned the media as to how a senior leader like Yediyurappa who has decades of experience in the party could become weak. “He is our leader, and the party stands by him.”
Kateel further added that he started the statewide tour from Hassan and has already covered six districts. He will visit Bidar later in the day. He aims to strengthen the party in the state with the tour.Kateel who arrived at Kalaburagi “for the first time” on Sunday, visited the famous Ganagapur shrine in the early hours of Monday and held a meeting with RSS activists. He later visited the BJP office and addressed party workers. He also visited Sharana Basaveshwara Temple.