BS Yediyurappa: ‘Hijab, halal issues not necessary… I will not support such things’

Yediyurappa’s remarks come in the run-up to polls on May 10. The BJP has given a ticket to Yashpal Suvarna, one of the most vocal voices against students seeking to wear hijab on college premises in Karnataka, which had stoked tension between communities in the coastal region of the state.

There have also been calls by right-wing groups against Muslim vendors from participating in temple festivals and for boycotting halal meat by Hindus after the Karnataka New Year festival of Ugadi last year. These found resonance in the party and functionaries, including BJP general secretary C T Ravi, who had endorsed what he called measures to counter “economic jihad.” The Opposition said that this was another attempt by the BJP to use divisive politics to polarise the electorate.

Asked about Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai not attending church programmes despite invitations, Yediyurappa said: “I used to go for Christian and Muslim programs. Even other community programs. Bommai also used to go. He should have gone for these if they had invited him. We must give more importance to such programs. He should go for such programmes.”

Out of electoral politics, Yediyurappa, 80, a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board, downplayed the ongoing rebellion in the state unit. “Rebellion is not going to affect the BJP. In some constituencies, their (rebels’) exit may make a small difference but the party wouldn’t get affected by it.”

The BJP veteran, a four-term CM, underlined that he “definitely” wanted his son B Y Vijayendra, the BJP candidate in Shikaripura, to be his successor. He said that Prime Minister Modi’s popularity, his welfare schemes and the social welfare initiatives taken in his tenure as Chief Minister along with measures by the Bommai government would ensure that “the BJP gets an absolute majority”.