Veteran Congress leader and MLC B.K. Hariprasad on Saturday hit out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah yet again for “denying justice to Dalits, minorities and a large sections of OBCs in the Karnataka government” without citing his name directly.
Addressing a meeting of Idiga, Billava and Namadhari and several other OBC communities in the presence of many seers of the communities in Bengaluru, Mr. Hariprasad said the leader who had given many assurances during poll campaign did not give the post of the Deputy Chief Minister to a Dalit leader. “One cannot become a Socialist by wearing a Hublot watch, dhoti and khaki shorts inside,” he said, making a jibe.
In July last too, Mr. Hariprasad challenged Mr. Siddaramaiah, stating that he knew “how to make or bring the Chief Minister down.”
About Parameshwara
Mr. Hariprasad, who hails from the OBC Idiga community and who has been disgruntled over being denied a Cabinet berth, said Home Minister G. Parameshwara was the longest serving president of the Karnataka Congress but had been “demoted” from being Deputy Chief Minister in an earlier term to the Minister’s post in the present government. He alleged the Congress “used” small OBCs, Muslims and Dalits for vote bank and forgot about them after coming to power in Karnataka. Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi (ST) too had been denied the post of Dy. CM, the MLC said.
“In 75 years of the State’s history, the Congress did not appoint a Dalit leader to the Chief Minister’s post,” Mr. Hariprasad said.
BJP’s vote share
“In terms of vote share, the BJP is not defeated in the 2023 Assembly elections. It secured about 36% of votes both in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections. The government (BJP) has changed, because of support given by Muslims, Dalits and a large section of OBCs to the Congress. The BJP does not speak about minorities, but the Congress leaders spoke about minorities and Dalits during the elections and sidelined them after coming to power,” Mr. Hariprasad hit out.
He sarcastically thanked the Chief Minister for not giving him the Cabinet berth, and said he would organise small castes in the coming days to show the “real strength” of political power.
Karnataka unit president of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Mukhyamantri Chandru, former BJP Minister and MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary, Congress MLC Prakash K. Rathod, and leaders and seers from across the State belonging to these communities attended the programme, which is being seen largely as an attempted show of strength by Mr. Hariprasad.
