BENGALURU: In a world where politicians outdo each other with doublespeak and deceit, there is one senior politician who blindly believes another senior politician’s words. “If there is a leader who does what he says, it is BS Yediyurappa. He is ‘naligemele nadiyuvantha nayaka’ (a man who acts on his words),” said Adagur H Vishwanath, the rebel MLA who lost from Hunsur.
Vishwanath, originally one of the 15 rebels who contested the byelections, was declared a loser after HP Manjunath of the Congress trounced him by a convincing margin of 39,000 votes.
More than a month later, Vishwanath is unfazed. “I have no doubt or fear or anxiety because I trust Yediyurappa to keep his word. He said he would make all of us 17 MLAs ministers, regardless of what happens, and I trust him. Because if it wasn’t for our sacrifice, how could the BJP have formed the government?’’ he said.
His confidence could also stem from the fact that 12 seats in the Legislative Council fall vacant in June, and he can expect to be made an MLC along with MTB Nagaraj, who lost the Hoskote seat to BJP rebel Sharath Bache Gowda, and R Shankar from Ranebennur, who stayed out of the contest.
With cabinet expansion expected in about a week’s time, Vishwanath expressed confidence that Yediyurappa would do what he had assured the rebels, whether they won or lost. Coincidentally, Vishwanath, Nagaraj and Shankar are Kurubas.
“Yediyurappa told me not to contest. But I did, and after the result, he reminded me of his words,” Vishwanath said, adding that he had contested as the Supreme Court judgment did not place any restriction on disqualified MLAs. He is also sure that he will not be appointed chairman of any Board or Corporation, as he has been a minister earlier.