He also said he has neither been sidelined nor lost his importance in the party after Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi joined the Congress.
Published Apr 30, 2023 | 2:25 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 30, 2023 | 2:25 PM
File photo of MB Patil speaking during a Congress event. (Twitter)
The Congress will come to power on its own with 130-odd seats out of 224 in the Karnataka Assembly elections and the BJP’s alleged “Operation Kamala” of poaching MLAs post-polls will not be successful this time, said senior Congress leader and ex-minister MB Patil.
Speaking to PTI, Patil, also the party’s Campaign Committee chairman, denied any “internal fight” in the Congress and defended the party leaders holding aspirations of becoming chief minister.
The former home and water resources minister also said he has neither been sidelined nor lost his importance in the party after Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi, the tall Lingayat leaders from the BJP, joined the Congress.
Patil is contesting from Babaleshwar, one of the eight Assembly constituencies in Vijayapura district.
“If they carry out ‘Operation Kamala’ this time, it will not be successful. The BJP and JD(S) together will not have enough numbers to form the government. Taking the support of JD(S) will not arise for Congress as it will get 130-odd seats,” he said.
BJP has so far come to power in Karnataka not by majority numbers.
In 2018, the BJP had projected tall Lingayat leader BS Yediyurappa as its chief minister candidate but the saffron party at that time could not even win 115 seats and managed only 105, he recalled.
“Now minus Yediyurappa, there is no question of BJP coming to power on its own. It came to power by buying our 17 MLAs through ‘Operation Kamala’. It spent ₹100 crore on each MLA. A total of ₹1,700 crore was spent,” he alleged.
On reports of being sidelined and losing importance as a Lingayat leader in the Congress after the two senior BJP leaders joined the party, Patil said, “If that was the case, I would not have forced Jagadish Shettar to join the party. I am an old Congressman and I have my importance. The party knows that I was instrumental in getting Shettar to the Congress. The party has to come to power and that is the larger interest.”
Former chief minister Jagdish Shettar belongs to the Baniga (traders) subsect of the Lingayat Community. He and Laxman Savadi (who represents Athani in Belagavi) are the two most influential Lingayat leaders from north Karnataka and will influence the voters.
“Shettar will influence 20,000 votes in Vijayapura. Whereas Savadi makes a difference in at least 10-12 constituencies as he belongs to a Lingayat sub-sect Ganiga. He is a tall leader for that sub-sect in 10-12 constituencies. Laxman Savadi will be beneficial for us,” he noted.
Patil said there is no truth in the rumour that he is being sidelined in the Congress as he is chairman of the Campaign Committee, unlike Yediyurappa who, despite being a former chief minister and tall Lingayat leader, being made a mere member of the BJP Campaign Committee.
“I have not been sidelined,” he asserted.
On the growing “rift” within the party amid several contenders for chief ministership, Patil said: “There is no such thing. Everybody will have aspirations, nothing wrong with that. Don’t BJP leaders have aspirations?”
Besides Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, and M Mallikarjun Kharge, there are many capable leaders and contenders for chief ministership in the Congress, but the party high command will take a final call, he said.
Asserting that he is also a contender for chief ministership, Patil said, “I am there. G Parameshwara, Krishna Byre Gowda, Ramalinga Reddy, HK Patil, and RV Deshpande are also there. There are many leaders who are capable of becoming chief minister. In Congress, the party legislative committee will take a call after the election results.”
Asked if Lingayat leaders Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi joining the Congress threatened his aspirations to become a chief minister, he said: “In Lingayats, I am much more senior than Shettar and Savadi. It will take time for them to be an aspirant for chief minister.”
“Although I am capable of becoming a chief minister like many others, ultimately the party will decide,” he said and added that except in Punjab, nowhere has the Congress party announced its chief minister candidate.
Asked how the Congress plans to arrange funds to fulfil several poll promises made in the current election, he said the party in 2013 had made 165 poll promises like Anna Bhagya, and Ksheera Bhagya schemes, out of which, it fulfilled 158.
“Apart from which were not announced in our manifesto, we had another 30 programmes, so we implemented a total 188 programmes, only seven were left,” he claimed.
Whereas BJP in 2018 had made 600 promises in its election manifesto. Out of which only 48 have been fulfilled. “We have fulfilled 120 percent. It is not like Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s promise, we have delivered whatever promises we made,” he added.
Patil, a prominent Lingayat leader in the state, began his political journey in the year 1991 and successfully contested the Assembly elections from Tikota. Following this, the Congress leader contested the Lok Sabha polls from Bijapur (now renamed Vijayapura) and became an MP.
It was in 2008 that he again contested the Assembly polls from Babaleshwar. Since then, Patil has been representing the constituency and is preparing to win the 2023 polls.
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