Bengaluru: Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said the BJP would make an Advani of its state unit president B S Yeddyurappa since it is known for snubbing its senior leaders.
At an interaction with reporters here, Reddy alleged that the BJP was already keeping Yeddyurappa away from its rallies. “They will hold on to him till the elections and issue him a gate pass after that. They will not make him the Chief Minister, although they have announced him as their chief ministerial candidate. When they have snubbed their senior leader L.K. Advani, will they spare Yeddyurappa?” he asked.
Pointing out that the “Modi and Amit Shah wave” that the BJP is harping on will not have an impact in Karnataka, he said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the party’s star campaigner in the State. “What is he going to preach in Karnataka when BJP leaders in his home State are going to jail on rape charges? Maybe, he is coming here to teach the BJP how to shield the rape accused,” he said.
Reddy, who denied he was an aspirant for the Chief Minister’s post, said after the Congress regains power, if he is given the Home portfolio again, the first thing he would do is to initiate measures to shut down the “terrorist factories” of the right wing and other groups in the State.
The minister alleged that Sangh Parivar outfits on the one hand and the Popular Front of India and the Social Democratic Party of India on the other were engaged in “producing terrorists”, particularly in the coastal region.