In a provocative statement, senior BJP Karnataka government leader and minister KS Eshwarappa on Sunday said that if “a BJP worker is touched”, the “instruction is to hit back with a single stick” and “to carry two, if even one is taken”. “. .
Speaking at a meeting of party workers in Shimoga, state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwarappa said the BJP “has become very strong” and its workers are now equally able to give back if provoked or attacked by rivals. Huh.
“In the past, they used to kill our workers. In those days our elders in the Sangh used to say that keep calm at all costs. We had to remain calm, regardless of the situation and how much we were attacked. We didn’t have the strength,” he said.
He said, “Today BJP has developed all over the world and if any BJP worker is touched anywhere in any corner, then there is an instruction to strike with the same stick. In the past, it was a decision to remain calm at all costs. Now, the decision is to remove two, if even one is taken. We have become very strong. No one will come to trouble us,” said Eshwarappa.
Reacting to his remarks, Congress and SDPI leaders have demanded his resignation. State Congress working president Salim Ahmed said that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should sack him immediately.
“Eshwarappa is not eligible to be an MLA because of his provocative statements, let alone being a minister. The speaker should expel him from the legislature, the CM should remove him from the cabinet, and the governor should intervene and ensure peace and stability in the state,” said SDPI spokesperson Afsar Kodipet.
Eshwarappa, a veteran BJP leader who helped form the party in Karnataka along with former CM BS Yediyurappa, is often known for making provocative statements on communal lines.
A few days ago, he said the BJP will have a “nationalist leader” as chief minister next time it comes to power as compromises had to be made this time to accommodate many newcomers to the party.
The statement was an indirect reference to the fact that Bommai is not an original member of the Sangh Parivar or the BJP, but shifted from the JD(U) in 2008.
While Eshwarappa did not make provocative statements when Yediyurappa was the chief minister, there are apprehensions that the BJP may use such remarks by prominent leaders in the new regime under Bommai to incite sentiments in the 2023 assembly elections.
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