Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday delivered his “farewell speech” in the Assembly and assured his party colleagues that he would work to bring the BJP back to power while rubbishing talks of him being sidelined.
“This is my farewell speech because I won’t enter this Assembly again. I have already announced that I will not contest the election this time,” Yediyurappa said. “But until my last breath, I will actively work for the success of the party. And, not just in the coming election, but also the one after that if God grants me that strength,” he said.
Yediyurappa said that on several occasions the Opposition had commented about the BJP sidelining him. “I want to make it clear that I have been sworn as chief minister four times. No other leader has been given these many opportunities. I will remain eternally grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
“Such talks about being sidelined will not silence me,” the Lingayat strongman insisted, and declared that he would campaign for the BJP by visiting all constituencies in the state. “I want to tell my party colleagues, be confident. The BJP winning the election is as true as the sun and moon. Congress will definitely remain in the Opposition,” Yediyurappa said.
Taking a dig at Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, Yediyurappa questioned why the Congress leader wanted to contest from Kolar by deserting his constituents in Badami. “What does this mean? Have you not done any development work in your constituency over the last five years? Or, are you scared of losing in Badami? How will people in any constituency trust you when you fail to recontest from your present constituency?" he charged.
Defending Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s 2023-24 Budget, Yediyurappa said the state government had shown remarkable performance in revenue generation, which he said was contrary to expert opinions that Karnataka would require at least five years to recover from the Covid-19 slump.
Yediyurappa, who has presented seven budgets, compared Bommai’s budget with the one in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. “While Karnataka has seen a revenue surplus budget, the Rajasthan budget estimates a revenue deficit of Rs 24,895 crore. While Karnataka has a fiscal deficit of 2.8 per cent, it is 3.9 per cent,” he said.