Shikaripur: Yediyurappa appeals for his son’s victory with a huge margin

Shikaripur: Yediyurappa appeals for his son’s victory with a huge margin

Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa appealed to voters of his constituency Shikaripur to elect his son B.Y. Vijayendra contesting on the BJP ticket with a margin not less than 50,000 votes.

Addressing a rally in Shikaripur on Wednesday, the day when Mr.Vijayendra filed one more set of nomination papers, he said that during his tenure as an MLA and Chief Minister, he had brought in many development projects for the constituency. “Tell me what else is left to do in Shikaripur? I have improved irrigation facilities, sanctioned schools, colleges, and upgraded hospitals”, he said.

Appealing to the party workers, he said if they ensured at least 70% of people in each booth voted for Mr. Vijayendra, he would win with a margin of not less than 50,000 votes.

Mr. Vijayendra said that he was contesting for Shikaripur as senior leaders of the party did put pressure on Mr. Yediyurappa and others to field him. “It is not my choice or my father’s choice. The people of the constituency wanted me to contest here. All these years, you have all supported my family. Because of Mr. Yediyurappa and my brother B.Y.Raghavendra, Lok Sabha member, the constituency has many development projects. I continue to do good work in the interest of people here”, he said.

The rally was addressed by P.Rajeev, MLA, and Lok Sabha member Umesh Jadhav, who represent the Banjara community. Both appealed to their community in the Banjara dialect to support Mr. Vijayendra. They said during Mr. Yediyurappa’s tenure, the community had benefited. The BJP government also relieved the community of the fear of losing the Scheduled Caste tag. Recently, Banjara community staged protests in Shikaripur constituency opposing the internal reservation for the Scheduled Castes.

Minister for Municipal Administration MTB Nagaraj, a Kuruba leader, appealed to the Kurubas and other backward classes, to support Mr. Yediyurappa’s son in the elections. Similarly, Raju Gowda, MLA of Surapura, said that it was the ‘duty’ of the people of the ST community to support Mr. Yediyurappa as the BJP government enhanced the reservation for the community.

A. Narayanaswamy, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, said the BJP government introduced internal reservation among the Scheduled Castes, which the Congress could never do.