KALABURAGI: RDPR Minister KS Eshwarappa on Tuesday informed that the State Government will be ready to hold elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats in February, only if the delimitation panel submits its report a month earlier.
“If the delimitation committee, under the chairmanship of retired IAS officer Lakshminarayan, submits its recommendations to the government in the first week of January, the government is ready to hold elections to zilla and taluk panchayats in February,” reiterated Eshwarappa.
“As per available information, preparations of the recommendations for delimitation of ZP/TP constituencies by the committee are in their final stages. In all probability, the panel will submit its report in the first week of January. The government is not in favour of postponing the elections,” he added.
Meanwhile, referring to the upcoming Council polls, Eshwarappa said, “BJP has fielded 20 candidates and is confident of winning at least 15-16 seats, as the BJP-supported Gram Panchayat members are more than the Congress’. Apart from this, BJP MLAs and MPs who are also voters in this election are more in number, compared to the Congress, which has not fielded a senior MLC like SR Patil this time, as there are differences of opinion among its top leaders in the state. This will certainly affect the Congress in the elections.”
The veteran BJP leader also alleged that Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah deceived the JDS by joining Congress. “If the Congress asks him to step down as Opposition Leader, he will quit this party too,” he charged. Eshwarappa, who is touring Karnataka for organising a state-level conference of backward classes leaders said, “The convention will be held on December 12 at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, where about 3,500 delegates will participate.
The party will choose 10 people from each of the 310 mandals of 224 Assembly constituencies. In the convention, the delegates will be briefed about welfare programmes launched by the Union and State Governments. Later, three members from each of the mandals, including two men and one woman, will be trained, and a booklet on welfare measures launched by the government will be handed to them. They will be instructed to spread awareness among people of the backward classes and communities about the activities initiated by the government for their welfare.” It is a sort of preparation for the ZP, TP and General Elections, Eshwarappa said.
The CM question
Meanwhile, replying to a question on whether he has any ambitions of becoming the CM, as he had predicted that Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani will become CM in future, Eshwarppa said that every politician nurses the ambition of becoming chief minister and he was not an exception. However, what he said about Nirani a few days ago was that the latter is someone who has grown from the grassroot level and established many industries in the state and is eligible to become chief minister. After all, it is the BJP high command which decides on who the chief minister will be. As of now, there is no question of a new chief minister and the General Elections will be fought in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as the high command has already clarified about the same, he said.