BS Yeddyurappa: We respect H D Deve Gowda, his views

Bengaluru: Amid reports of the May 12 Assembly polls likely to throw up a fractured verdict, the BJP’s CM face B.S. Yeddyurappa has softened his stand vis-a-vis the Janata Dal (S) and its supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda.

In an interview with Deccan Chronicle, Yedyurappa said there was no question of having an understanding with the JD (S). “But, as a mark of respect, we do not attack or criticise Deve Gowda because he is a former prime minister and he is from our state,” he remarked. The BJP and JD(S) had come together to run a coalition government in the state in 2006-07 with Yeddyurappa as the Deputy CM.

The BJP state president however did not expect the JD(S) to make any substantial gains saying at the most, they might win 30-40 seats. He claimed the mood was against the Congress, adding that the more AICC president Rahul Gandhi visits the state, the more the BJP would benefit.

Replying to a query on whether the party had decided to take back tainted mining baron Janardhan Reddy into its fold, he replied, “When he volunteered to help our candidates, as a strategy we used his service. That’s all.”Yeddyurappa and Reddy were seen together at an election rally in Molakalmuru on Saturday.

Q&A

Struggling through a big crowd of party workers and leaders from north Karnataka to Kodagu, and reaching the meeting room is itself like winning a relay race. That is the scene one can witness at the BJP’s CM candidate, B.S. Yeddyurappa’s residence in Bengaluru almost every day and Sunday was no exception. 

Some wanted him to change the candidate announced for their constituencies and others wanted tickets for the constituencies for which the party is yet to announce its candidates.  Before taking a chopper to four constituencies where he will campaign on Sunday, he sat for a quick interview. As ever, Mr Yeddyurappa was confident and belligerent, at times showing a soft corner for  JD(S) supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda. He spoke about various issues concerning  elections. Here are excerpts from his interview.

You say your party will win a clear majority. Not only that, you have been saying the Congress tally will come down to 60 or less. How is it possible?
I have toured the state thrice before the announcement of elections. The mood is against the Congress. No matter whatever the outcome of various news channel surveys, our party will get a clear majority. You will come to know in a week’s time about how the Congress will implode. The Congress is in a pathetic condition, the chief minister is going to lose in two constituencies and his son will also lose the polls. In the absence of strong leaders, the Congress candidates have to depend on money and local adjustments to fight the elections. What Siddaramaiah did to Dr G. Parameshwar in the 2013 assembly elections, will be done to him this time. The more All India Congress Committee president Rahul Gandhi visits the state, the more will we benefit.

How many seats will your party get?
Did you ever expect that the BJP would come to power on its own in UP? It (the win) will repeat in Karnataka. Our aim is to win 150 seats. I am confident. 

Not only the Congress. even the JD (S) has been saying they will form the government on their own. 
Who will trust the JD (S)? They cannot win the polls with false and non-pragmatic promises. At the most, they might win 30 -40 seats.

You do not criticise JD (S) in campaign speeches, that’s why there is an impression that the BJP has a tacit understanding with JD(S)...
No. We are fielding 224 candidates. That’s a clear indication that we will fight both parties. No question of having an understanding with the JD (S). But, as a mark of respect, we do not attack or criticise H.D. Deve Gowda because he is a former prime minister and he is from our state.

You claim you will cross the 150-seat target. But on seeing your list many in your party say you will get, at best, 60 seats. 
I can write and give you a list today (of the winners). Let us keep it in a sealed cover. After the announcement of poll results, we will discuss the outcome.  

There is so much rebellion in the BJP that your claim of getting 150 seats seems a bit unrealistic. For instance the charges of Revu Naik Belamagi and Belur Gopalkrishna are cases in point..
Who said? What Mr Belamagi did was to hoist atrocity cases on Lingayats and there are nearly a lakh  Lingayats in his constituency. He is sitting at Mr Kharge’s house and filing false cases. Now, how can you field him? I had in fact told Mr Gopalkrishna that we would make him an MLC. But he did not listen.

The Congress party seem to have dealt with the rebels more systematically than the BJP and your party might crumble with rebels upsetting your calculations.
No. We have been constantly in touch with those who could not get tickets or those who filed nomination papers as rebels. After Amit Shah’s internal survey, we changed some candidates.

But many in the party say, Mr Yeddyurappa did not accept the list prepared by Mr Shah. You dominated and got your list approved..
No, not at all. After touring 224 seats, I gave suggestions and Mr Shah commissioned a survey for himself. When nearly 90 per cent of my suggestions concurred with his list, he approved those names. But ultimately, Mr Shah took the decision.

For the first time, there seems to be no wave in favour of any party. How do you analyse the situation?
Earlier, we did not have a government at the Centre but now we have a government. Programmes of the Modi government will help us. Lakhs of youth, enrolled for the first time, are with us. Dalits, both Right and Left together, are very angry with the government. Internally, we strengthened the booth committees. So, internally and externally, circumstances will favour us.

But you gave tickets to tainted politicos so this will go against you..
(agitated look) Tell me one thing. Case after case, the courts exonerated me. Siddaramaiah is an advocate. Doesn’t he know this? You know that the ACB was constituted to harass opposition parties. Flimsy cases were filed against every leader in our party. People know this. After assuming power, I will scrap the ACB within 24 hours and give back the powers to the Lokayukta. 

Mr Shah said the party had not taken in Mr Gali Janardhan Reddy. But you were with him on Friday to campaign for Mr Sriramulu. Isn’t it a clear indication of him coming back to your party?
Neither did he ask for a ticket, nor did we give it to him. Yes, he was there to campaign for Mr Sreeramulu. When he volunteered to help our candidates in that region, as a strategy we used his service. That’s all. 

This time you did a novel experiment in preparing the manifesto. Are you really serious? Because, many liberal thinkers say the BJP will divide society and does not go by manifestos..
(agitated look) If you ask me based on some foolish point of view of some people, what can I say? We are serious. They have given me a draft manifesto. I will go through it and then in a week’s time, we will unveil the manifesto. We want to give a big thrust to the farming sector, Rs one lakh crore for Krishna basin projects, constitute a big revolving fund etc.