B S Yeddyurappa will never become CM again, says Karnataka ex-CM Siddaramaiah

Udupi: Taking on the BJP in the coastal town of Byndoor in Udupi district where he was campaigning on Thursday, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah went straight for the jugular, attacking the saffron party on its "ownership" of Hindutva.  

Accusing the BJP of using the Hindutva card to win elections, he demanded, “Am I not a Hindu? Aren't our leaders Madhu, Jayamala, Pramod, and Sorake Hindus? Only Yeddyurappa is a Hindu? When asking for your votes they use the Hindutva card, but later the Hindus are  'hinde' (behind) and the leaders are mundhe (ahead).” 

Mr Siddaramaiah, who was campaigning for Mr Madhu Bangarappa, who has been fielded by the Congress in the November 3 Shivamogga parliamentary bypoll, said he didn't understand why the people of the coast supported the BJP during the last assembly poll.  "It asked the people to vote for it to ensure the safety of women and cattle. But aren't women and cattle safe now when  our coalition government is in power in the state?" he asked.

Recalling that his government had come up with various projects that had never been conceived in the country before, he lamented that the people of the coast had ignored this and backed the BJP instead in the last poll. "Can Hindutva alone fill the stomachs of the people?" he demanded rhetorically. 

Claiming that state BJP chief,  B.S. Yedyurappa had resigned as Shivamogga MP,  only because he wanted to become Chief Minister again, he mocked that he did get his desire for  a mere two- and-a- half days before the Congress and JD(S) coalition came to power in the state a few months ago. "That itself (his becoming CM) was an anti- democratic development. Yeddyurappa and his son have shamed the people of this region. (Senior BJP leader) Shobha Karandlaje is under the illusion that he will become CM again. But he never will," Mr Siddaramaiah insisted.