‘Why will I get votes if I’m corrupt?’
For B.S. Yeddyurappa, the recent local bodies elections in the state was a high point. Not because he won more seats than the BJP, but because he single-handedly fractured the saffron party’s voter base in the north, central and, to some extent, coastal Karnataka. Since then, as speculation mounts over the role of the breakaway Karnataka Janata Paksha’s role as the “B team” of the Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls, something that Mr Yeddyurappa strenuously denies, he makes no bones about the fact that he is keeping all his options open. How do you analyse the urban local bodies’ polls where the ruling BJP got only 905 seats while the Congress bagged the highest, 1,960 seats, and your party, the Karnataka Janata Party, 276?
I can see two reasons for the ruling BJP’s rout in the urban local bodies’ polls. The BJP backstabbing me seems to have played on voters’ minds and they taught them a lesson in the polls.
Two, the failure of the two chief ministers who succeeded me led to the BJP’s defeat. Both D.V. Sadananda Gowda and the incumbent Chief Minister, Jagadish Shettar, did not release funds for the schemes launched by me. I, as Chief Minister, had launched special packages for Tier-II and Tier-III cities and towns. People knew who would work for them. That’s why they rejected the BJP. Are you happy with your party’s performance?
Frankly speaking, it was unexpected. There were lot of issues — the symbol and building an organisational structure are still work in progress. Still, we fought and won 276. I am okay with it. But in your district, Shimoga, your party got less seats than the JD(S), which is considered a party of Vokkaligas in south Karnataka districts?
You cannot term the poll outcome as the JD(S) getting the upper hand. Because of three or four local JD(S) leaders, they got so many seats in the elections. It was not our defeat. You will see a different result in the Assembly elections. You should see the BJP’s performance in Shimoga from where one of the deputy chief ministers, K.S. Eshwarappa, comes. They got 12 seats, which is pathetic. We did far better. A day after the urban local bodies polls, you said your aim was to finish the BJP. Will such a negative attitude help you build the party base?
That was on the spur of the moment. I might have said it, but I never intended to target any particular party. I only wanted to convey to the BJP central leaders that their argument that their party would recover after my exit has fallen flat. The leaders claimed that their party had been cleansed after I was out. Now, see where the party stands.
I said so because L.K. Advani would always refer to Udupi municipality, where the party ruled for over 40 years, as a BJP bastion. But this time the Congress won it. That’s why I said that the BJP’s central leaders should take note of the verdict.
I have stopped targeting any party or leader individually. Any comments I made in that press confer- ence was not intended to cause hurt. I was talking about strategy. I know that a negative strategy will take me nowhere. My priority is to build my own party as a regional force. The fact is that cases against you are still pending, leaving room for your rivals to raise corruption cases against you.
What cases? There are no cases left. Look at the Santosh Hegde report on mining.
The high court, in its order on March 2012, quashed the FIR framed against me. Then how can anyone in the BJP go around and spread canards against me? In the denotification cases, Lokayukta institution on July 2010 observed that the chief minister is only a recommendatory authority to denotify the land and the power is not vested with him. Finally, it observed that “on this ground, the complaint was not maintainable.”
About the issue of mining companies giving funds to a trust run by my family members, let them give me one piece of evidence to prove that I, as chief minister, favoured these companies who gave funds. There is no evidence in any case. That is why I am saying that the BJP wants to crucify me through false propaganda.
Ananth Kumar, MP, intentionally got Mr Advani to address a rally when I was behind bars. His strategy was just to target and malign me.
I would like to ask one question — if I had indulged in corruption, would the people have voted for me? You have told your workers that they should not support the BJP in the newly formed urban local bodies and in places where no party has got an absolute majority, they can back other parties. Does this indicate you are moving towards the Congress Party?
You should not read between the lines. We have decided there will be no alliance with the Congress overtly or covertly. The strategy for the urban local bodies cannot be applicable to Assembly polls. My party will contest all the 224 seats. At a party meeting, you spoke about polarisation. What exactly did you mean?
It’s not about dividing the vote. The idea is to bring Kannada organisations, farmers’ organisations together. I am ready to give a few seats to these organisations as long as they accept my leadership and send a message to the public that we are contesting elections under my leadership. In the event of the state witnessing a fractured verdict, which party will you back?
It is too early to say anything now. Unless we know who will be given the tickets in the Congress and the BJP, it is difficult to predict the results. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.