BY Vijayendra Slams Siddaramaiah’s Kalaburagi Cabinet Meet as Political Stunt
KALABURGI: BJP state president BY Vijayendra has described the cabinet meeting in Kalaburagi on Tuesday as a political move by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to safeguard his position and please the AICC president. He criticized the government’s assurances as mere repetitions of earlier promises.
“The same assurances were made last year, and nothing materialized. Yesterday’s meeting will not result in development for the Kalyana Karnataka region. It is one and half year since the government came to power and now suddenly they have remembered about the Kalyana Karnataka region. The cabinet meeting was a staged attempt to safeguard the Chief Minister’s shaky chair and please the AICC president (Mallikarjun Kharge),” Vijayendra told reporters at Kalaburagi on Wednesday.
Referring to the assurances of allocation of Rs 5,000 crores along with promises to build schools and colleges, Vijayendra said, “There is nothing new in these announcements. The same promises were made a year ago, but no progress has been seen.”
He stated that during BS Yediyurappa’s tenure as Chief Minister, Rs 1,500 crores were allocated for Kalyana Karnataka's development, followed by the BJP government under Basavaraj Bommai providing Rs 3,000 crores, and later a budget allocation of Rs 5,000 crores.
“Siddaramaiah is simply reiterating these previous announcements without offering any fresh initiatives,” he claimed.
Vijayendra also raised concerns about whether Siddaramaiah was acting as the Chief Minister for the entire state or focusing solely on Bengaluru and Mysuru.
“Neither the Chief Minister nor the Deputy Chief Minister, nor any other ministers, have visited the Kalyana Karnataka region to address its development or allocate necessary funds. They only appear here during elections,” he said.
Responding to comments by BJP leader Ramesh Jarkiholi, who said he does not recognize Vijayendra as a leader, Vijayendra welcomed the remark.
“I have never claimed to be a leader; I was appointed as state president by our party seniors. As state president and an ordinary worker, I travel across the state. We successfully conducted the Bengaluru-Mysuru padayatra to expose the corrupt Congress government,” he said, adding that he was pleased Jarkiholi was discussing the party’s ideology.
When asked about the display of the Palestinian flag in the state, Vijayendra expressed concern over the rise in anti-national activities under the Congress government. He accused the government of supporting violence, citing police inaction during an attack on Hindu shops by some minority groups in Nagamangala.
“Who is responsible for this?” he questioned, criticizing the Home Minister for downplaying such incidents.