BJP central parliamentary board member B S Yediyurapppa addresses a press meet in Bengaluru on Thursday. Former ministers V Sunil Kumar, Byrathi Basavaraj and party leader Ashwathnarayan are seen.
Credit: DH Photo/B K Janardhan
BJP Parliamentary Board member B S Yediyurappa on Thursday demanded an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for ‘false propaganda’ that the Modi administration would shut down the state-run HAL.
“I would like to ask, will Rahul Gandhi apologise now for spreading misinformation? HAL has got work order of Rs 84,000 crore and further talks are on for work order of Rs 50,000 crore. In 2023-24, HAL has earned a record Rs 29,000 crore revenue,”
Yediyurappa told a news
conference.
“I would also like to ask Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, if he will ensure that Rahul apologises?” Yediyurappa said.
Yediyurappa also slammed Congress for its claims that the Modi administration has created joblessness. In 2014, Yediyurappa said there were 15.54 crore PF accounts. By 2022, he said this number rose to 22.5 crore. “Seven crore new jobs have been added,” he said. He also said that MSMEs had 5 crore jobs in 2014, which increased to 6.3 crore in 2022.
“In Karnataka, job creation happened only on the X accounts of ministers M B Patil and Priyank Kharge. It is a record achievement of this Congress government by not creating a single job in the last 10 months,” he charged.
Yediyurappa said voting for Congress in the elections would be a vote for anarchy, economic bankruptcy, corruption and instability. “Voting for Congress will be a threat for the country’s internal security. I am sure people will vote for BJP and NDA candidates as they want to re-elect Modi and also for a safe and secure country,” he said.
Criticising Rahul Gandhi, the former CM said his leadership has failed and even his partymen are not using his name in poll campaigns.
“We are going before the people with evidence of work done by the Modi government in the last 10 years,” Yediyurappa said.
Plays down dissent
Asked about dissidence in BJP, Yediyurappa played it down. “Here and there, one or two people will criticise, which is natural. I won’t respond to that. But come with me and you’ll see the kind of response people are showing. I’m confident that people will support Modi’s leadership and we’ll win all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Let there be no doubt,” he said.