BENGALURU: Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who took retirement from electoral politics, will be back as “opposition leader” to corner the Congress government outside the Assembly. “Soon after the governor’s address in the House, I will sit on a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the premises of Vidhan Soudha on July 3 and continue till the session ends (10 days). The Congress government came to power by making false promises (the five guarantees) to the people. It must implement them or quit,” said Yediyurappa, who “sacrificed” his Shikaripura Assembly constituency to shape the political future of his son BY Vijayendra.
The budget session will start from July 3 and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to present his 14th budget on July 7. “Inside the House, elected BJP leaders will fight it out and outside, those leaders who were defeated in the Assembly polls will take on the government,” Yediyurappa stressed.
This means that the leader of the opposition leads BJP inside the house, while the 80-year-old veteran leader will head the group of leaders who could not make it to the Assembly. Yediyurappa will take up issues related to the government’s failure to implement the promises, including the five guarantees, especially the Anna Bhagya scheme, which is in a limbo due to non-availability of rice.
“If Congress fails to distribute the rice and even if one gram of rice is reduced, we will launch a protest against the government,” he said. According to political pundits, Yediyurappa, who is known for his struggle as leader of the opposition in his political career spanning over five decades, doesn’t want to give up the space to others as he wants to be politically active. “Whether it is BJP or JDS, Yediyurappa wants to acquire the prominence as a leader to be reckoned with,” they observed.
But the ruling Congress is also prepared to take on BJP and Yediyurappa, saying the former chief minister failed to deliver the goods, besides allegedly being involved in corruption. “He is free to stage a dharna, but what moral right does he have? BJP failed to implement the promises of its manifesto, including waiving off farm loans of up to Rs 1 lakh availed from nationalised banks, ten hours of uninterrupted power supply to farmers and Rs 1.5 lakh crore to the irrigation sector. Now, since it is the Centre that has refused to supply rice to the state, staging a dharna against the state government is meaningless,” said Siddaramaiah.