Karnataka polls: 'Yediyurappa bigger leader than PM Modi, Amit Shah', says Congress' BK Hariprasad

Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Council B K Hariprasad asked why PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were now addressing massive election meetings in Karnataka when they had not cared to visit the State when its people suffered during the Covid pandemic and natural calamities.

Bengaluru (Karnataka): Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Council B K Hariprasad Tuesday said that BJP veteran and former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was "the biggest leader" in Karnataka BJP, even bigger name than Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Hariprasad, in an exclusive chat with ETV Bharat, exuded confidence that the Congress party would come to power with a full majority in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections. "Modi and Amit Shah are not as popular as Yediyurappa in Karnataka. BJP High Command has also said that Yediyurappa is being used extensively for election campaigns because of his high reputation," he said.

Congress party, he said, was not afraid of election campaigns by Modi and Amit Shah. "Only our state-level leaders are going to counter PM Modi and Shah in election rallies," Hariprasad said. The Congress leader asserted that the BJP government had "totally failed" to solve the woes of the people of the state.

Asked about the Chief Ministerial aspirants from Congress, Hariprasad said there were many other leaders besides Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar. On his part, he said that he was not an aspirant for the CM chair and not even for the minister position. He asserted that he would continue to work for the party without aiming at any positions of power.

Hariprasad commented that PM Modi visited Maharastra, Telangana, and Odisha in times of calamities but not Karnataka which showed the attitude of the BJP's top leaders towards the poll-bound southern state. Moreover, Karnataka has been contributing a lot to the country's GST but these funds are not being given back to it, he alleged.

Taking strong objection, the Congress leader said that the Central Government was giving enormous amounts of GST funds to Uttar Pradesh while neglecting Karnataka and the interests of its people totally. In nearly four years, Karnataka contributed Rs 6.7 lakh crore to the treasury but the State got peanuts while Uttar Pradesh got over Rs 6 lakh crore, he said.

Hariprasad further said that the Congress would strongly register its protest against the 'stepmotherly attitude' of the BJP government at the Centre towards Karnataka. At the massive election meetings of PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he asked where they were when the Covid pandemic and natural calamities struck Karnataka. Not a single Union Minister visited the ravaged parts of the state, he said.

The Congress leader further said that the Prime Minister "did not even care to make an aerial survey of the affected parts of Karnataka in times of calamities". It only showed that the BJP leaders were only interested in elections but not the true welfare of the people, he said.