Rebel Eshwarappa firm on contesting LS poll, snubs BJP efforts to placate him

Shivamogga (K’taka): BJP National General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal on Sunday rushed to pacify K S Eshwarappa who has rebelled against the party, but the former deputy chief minister is firm on his decision to contest the Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate.

Eshwarappa will be contesting from Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka against former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s elder son B Y Raghavendra. Agarwal, along with some other senior party functionaries, met Eshwarappa and tried to convince him not to contest the election.

However, he was “adamant” and said he would fight the election for sure and that no one can change his mind. Speaking to reporters after meeting Eshwarappa, Agarwal said this was his personal visit and nothing to do with politics.

“We are friends from the same party. This was our personal visit. I sat with his family. There were children there. We don’t talk politics with children. Meeting family is not a political subject for me,” Agarwal said.

Eshwarappa on Sunday once again vented his anger against former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who is a member in the BJP’s Parliamentary Board, for denying a ticket to his son K E Kantesh. His rebellion has come as a big embarrassment for the party as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address a public gathering in Shivamogga, the home town of Yediyurappa and Eshwarappa on Monday.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come back to power again and the party should be free from the control of B S Yediyurappa and his family. With that intention in my mind, I am contesting the Lok Sabha election,” the former DCM told reporters here.

Eshwarappa said central level BJP leaders are under the “illusion” that only Yediyurappa can help them get a definite number of seats. “We have to communicate to the the central leadership about the bad politics happening in Karnataka. We call Congress a party controlled by the family of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Even Modi targets Congress for it. Now, the BJP in Karnataka is becoming like Congress,” Eshwarappa said.

“The Central and state level leaders will understand that I am protesting. Hence I am contesting election,” he asserted. Pointing out that Yediyurappa is now the BJP parliamentary board member and his son Vijayendra the BJP state president, Eshwarappa said, “The entire BJP in the grip of a family is against the principles of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Reacting to it, Vijayendra, who is also the Shikaripur BJP MLA, said, “People of the state and the constituency will answer. I will not speak much. He is a senior in our party. I believe that everything will set right. He is in pain, but in the end everything will be resolved.”