UDUPI: Congress in general and former chief minister Siddaramaiah in particular are affected by ‘Gau Shaapa’ (cow’s curse) and is preventing the grand old party from returning to power in Karnataka. The obdurate Siddaramaiah talks lightly about cow slaughter and about eating beef in a bid to appease a section of the electorate and no one in the Congress has the sense to condemn these utterances of the leader of the opposition in the assembly.
Making this tongue-in-cheek observation about Siddaramaiah was minister for panchayati raj and rural development K S Eshwarappa. “Flustered at all-round development taking place in the state, Siddaramaiah’s only work off late is to Tweet about internal matters of BJP from the comforts of his AC office. He is a forlorn figure in the Congress. The apparent groupism in the Congress will take a toll on his political future,” Eshwarappa said.
Even former CM H D Kumaraswamy keeps announcing his political revival plans and about JD (S) coming back to power after the next assembly elections in the state. Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy are day dreaming and rather than work as a cohesive opposition are consoling themselves about their bleak political future with such utterances. “The BJP on the other hand lent effective voice to various public issues as an opposition,” he said.
On the issue of cabinet expansion, Eshwarappa said the BJP is only honouring its word given to turncoat MLAs who helped BJP to help form a stable government in Karnataka. Loyalists too will receive their due in this expansion, he said, adding it is purely prerogative of CM B S Yediyurappa to rejig the portfolios if he feels the need for it. “I will serve in any capacity that the party wants me to and will not hanker after a particular post,” he said.
Asked about demands from the Kuruba community to which he belongs that they be included in ST list, Eshwarappa said Niranjanananda Puri Swamiji of Kanaka Guru Peetha, Kaginele has created awareness in the community on this issue. “I have also discussed it with union minister Prahlad Joshi and Arjun Munda recently,” he said. The seer will undertake padayatra from Kaginele to Bengaluru on January 15 with a mass convention on February 7.