HALIYAL (UTTARA KANNADA): Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said senior BJP leader and MLA KS Eshwarappa was treated badly by the saffron party. Speaking to reporters here, Siddaramaiah also took a jibe at the senior legislator from Shivamogga for the latter’s remark that the former chief minister did not have a constituency to fight the 2023 Assembly elections. “Now, even he (Eshwarappa) does not have a constituency. I feel bad for him. He is my rival in politics... but he has worked hard for his party (BJP). BJP has treated him, Laxman Savadi and Jagadish Shettar in a bad manner,” he added.
The Badami MLA said Eshwarappa strengthened the BJP in the state and had an RSS background. “He has been a deputy CM, senior minister and leader of the opposition. He does not deserve such a treatment,” he elaborated. Eshwarappa quit electoral politics recently just weeks ahead of the May 10 Assembly polls.
When asked if senior BJP leader Jagadish Shettar would join the Congress, Siddaramaiah said he was not aware of the developments in the BJP. On the deadline set by Shettar to his party, Siddaramaiah said he has not spoken to Shettar.
On the Karnataka government scrapping the 4% quota for Muslims in the state, he said the matter was subjudice. “But what the government did is wrong. We do not oppose the reservation given to Vokkaligas and Lingayats...but they cannot do it by cancelling the quota meant for Muslims,” he said.
He said the present BJP State Government was the most corrupt that he has seen. “Senior leader RV Deshpande and I are contesting the elections for the ninth time only to defeat the BJP,” he said.