'Please excuse me': B S Yediyurappa during his emotional farewell speech [Full text]

B S Yediyurappa, who resigned from the Karnataka CM post, made an emotional farewell speech on Monday.

Read: Resigned voluntarily, was not forced, says BSY

Here’s the full text of Yediyurappa’s speech at the Sadhana Samavesha, an event held in Vidhana Soudha on Monday to mark the completion of the BJP government’s two years in office. The speech has been translated into English from Kannada:

Deputy chief ministers Govind Karjol, Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Laxman Savadi, my Cabinet colleagues, legislator friends, all officials who stood by me to ensure smooth functioning of the government, brothers and sisters and media friends...

I've come here after commemorating the Kargil Vijay Divas where I paid my homage to our martyrs who defeated Pakistani miscreants. Our soldiers fight with valour against evil forces. They inspire all of us to overcome obstacles.

We have announced incentives for Karnataka's sports persons who are participating in the Tokyo Olympics - Rs 5 crore for gold medal winners, Rs 3 crore for silver and Rs 2 crore for bronze. Similarly, we want to symbolically award those from other states with Rs 15 lakh for gold, Rs 10 lakh for silver and Rs 5 lakh for bronze. This will be Karnataka's contribution, a good gesture that I'm announcing now.

Today, people of the state and nation are watching with bated breath. From Shikaripura taluk, where not even 50-100 people would talk to us, to Basavana Bagewadi, Basavakalyan, Banavasi and Shivamogga, a padayatra was done to strengthen the party, which was done honestly with all party workers.

All of you know that back then, there wasn't anybody from our party in the Legislative Assembly. It was just the two of us who had won. Vasanth Bangera, who won along with me from our party, left and I was alone in my fight inside the Assembly.

I've never looked back. I never worried that I was alone. I'm confident, satisfied and content that I worked in a manner that earned the appreciation of people.

Born in a faraway Bookanakere in Mandya district, I came to Shivamogga and started my life as a Sangh worker. I started off as an RSS Pracharak. Gradually, I contested and won an election for the Shikaripura TMC and became its president. Once, during this period, I was attacked while going to work from home. They thought I was done for. Due to God's grace, I told my wife and kids that if I live, I would dedicate my life to the service of people. I'd like to believe that I did conduct my life like that, true to my conscience.

As the taluk president and zilla president to the erstwhile Janasangh, I took up protests for the sake of farmers and Dalits. At one time, in Shivamogga, we held a meeting with 50,000-60,000 farmers. Rajnath Singh himself was astonished and wondered if this was a state-level event or a mere district one. Similarly, we held a meeting with 50,000 women and Sushma Swaraj, who attended this, expressed surprise. It is because of such efforts that I've reached this place.

Then, Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked me to become a union minister. I said, "I must build the party in Karnataka. At no cost will I come to Delhi. Let me build the party here." (Tearful)

At that time, whenever Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi came to the state, not even 200-400 people would gather. Still, I travelled across the state. Due to God's grace, we went from two MLAs to four. If the BJP is in power today in Karnataka, it's because of the people of Shikaripura who elected me seven times. People stood with us against the might of money, muscle, women and the poison of caste.

We are here today because of the efforts of lakhs of workers.

I will say this to you with humility: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda are of the opinion that no one above 75 years of age should be given positions of power. But they held extreme affection, love and trust towards BS Yediyurappa. For two years, they gave me the opportunity to serve this state as the CM.

I pray to God that Modi and Shah should win the next election, become the PM and take this country forward. Only then will Bharat grow as a strong nation. This is the opinion of the people of the country. I pray to God that our Modi-Shah duo should come to power once again.

At one time, we used bicycles to move about in the Shivamogga district. We didn't even have a car. Padmanabh Bhat isn't here, but Gurumurthy and others have come. It's surprising (laughs), we tried to build this party with no support. Today, the party has grown in strength. It's the tallest party in India. KS Eshwarappa and other leaders are seated here. It's because of combined efforts that the party could come back to power.

We have shared enough information about our achievements so far. I won't repeat them. We achieved all this with the support of people.

I thank the media. They stood for us and made people informed about the good work we did.

At one time, inevitably, we had to join hands with the JD(S). HD Kumaraswamy was CM and I was deputy CM. As per our agreement, I should have become the CM after a year. But father and son (HD Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy) started imposing some conditions. Without caring for the CM's post, I said the agreement should be honoured. I resigned as the CM and traveled across the state. I cannot forget those memories.

In 2008, we brought the party to power on its own strength. Perhaps, due to various reasons, we couldn't get a clear majority. We had to form the government with support from others. Due to our own mistakes, we have not been able to win 115-120 seats, which we are capable of. I am confident that in the coming days we will together travel the state and make the party win 125-130 seats. This is my resolve. To that end, with or without power, I will do this. It’s my assurance to 6.5 crore people of this state.

See for yourself, I've had to face agniparikshe at every step. When I took charge, those in the Centre did not allow me to form my Cabinet. There was drought and then floods. I had to go everywhere like a mad man. So, it was an agniparikshe.

Then, there was Covid-19 that made lives difficult for citizens. To face this, our officials, we, Cabinet colleagues, MLAs tried everything. As a result, Karnataka became successful in handling the pandemic. These aren't my words, but PM Modi's.

Despite back-to-back trials by fire, I could work thanks to your cooperation. Going forward also, we have much to do.

I don't know how to thank government employees. From Chief Secretary Ravi Kumar to all others, they had faith in me and carried out whatever works were given to them. That's why some development works could be done. You know that for 1-1.5 years, there was no tax collection. All shops were closed and commercial activities came to a standstill. In all this, we did not compromise on our effort to take the state on the path of development.

I wasn't alone. With the cooperation of Cabinet colleagues, officials and MLAs, we could bring about a change in Karnataka. In the coming days, more development works are needed to progress the state.

We went with development as the mantra of administration. Youth, women, SC/STs...we need to take all of them together, for which everyone should cooperate.

You just heard Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan, FKCCI president Perikal M Sundar, Narayana Health chief Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Honorary Consul of Peru Vikram Vishwanath, Honorary Consul of Spain Surabhi Sharma, Aequs chairman Aravind Melligeri, Swiggy’s Sriharsha Majety, Zerodha’s Nitin Kamath, Razorpay’s Harshil Mathur...all of them have spoken kindly. I thank all of them.

We have to repay the debt of the people. All I want to say to officials and Cabinet colleagues is, I don't know why public faith in elected representatives and officials is declining. PM Modi's aspiration is that we should work with honesty. There are many honest officials. I went around Bengaluru the other day. With everybody's efforts, we're trying to make Bengaluru a model city in the entire country. Not just Bengaluru, we need to develop every single district. We can find success in this if everybody, including the media, cooperates.

Please excuse me, I have decided that after lunch I will go to Raj Bhavan and submit my resignation to the CM's post. (tearful)

It's not with pain, but happiness. A 75-year-old Yediyurappa was allowed to become CM for two years, for which I have no words to thank PM Modi, Shah and Nadda. I am indebted to them.

Their aspiration is that the party should be strengthened and brought back to power. We will achieve this together.

I need your cooperation. Let's work together.