The former Chief Minister and BJP leader Jagadish Shettar has sought answers from the coalition government in the State on why it had not implemented the 10 % reservation for the upper castes despite the Centre notifying it.

Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Shettar asked why Congress leaders who conducted mega rallies seeking religion status for Lingayats before the Assembly elections were silent on implementing the 10 % quota for upper castes which would also benefit Lingayats.

Taking a dig at the former Minister Vinay Kulkarni, who actively took part in the Lingayat agitation, for his statement that the agitation over Lingayat religion was irrelevant now, Mr. Shettar sought an answer from Home Minister M.B. Patil who had objected strongly when Minister D.K. Shivakumar apologised for “the mistake of attempting to divide religion”. “Mr. Patil should now clarify on the issue,” he said.

Emphasising that the BJP was not indulging in caste politics, Mr. Shettar said that the party was seeking votes based on development works taken up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last five years.

However, asked was it not the BJP too which had indulged in caste politics in Kalaburagi constituency where members of the Banjara Samaj reportedly having allegiance to the BJP were attacking and preventing the community leaders from canvassing for the Congress, Mr. Shettar said that those incidents had nothing to do with the party workers and it was the responsibility of the district administration concerned to provide suitable security for the smooth conduct of campaigning and elections.

On the allegations of misuse of the Income Tax Department, Mr. Shettar said why should the Congress or the Janata Dal(S) leaders be worried if raids were conducted on contractors and others and if they are not connected with it.

Mr. Shettar said that there was a Modi wave across the country and that the BJP would win 22-24 seats in the State, including all the seven seats in the Bombay Karnataka region. He said that during his tour of Hyderabad Karnataka and Bombay Karnataka, he had seen very good response for the BJP and BJP candidate in Kalaburagi Umesh Jadhav would win against senior Congress leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge. He accused Mr. Kharge of being responsible for backwardness of Hyderabad Karnataka region.

Mr. Shettar also sought an answer from the former Minister and Congress candidate for Dharwad Lok Sabha Constituency Vinay Kulkarni on his contribution for the development of Dharwad district during his tenure as Minister.

MLC Pradeep Shettar and others were present.