India News | Only Lingayat Will Become CM in Karnataka: Arun Singh Spells out BJP's 'universal Truth'
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Belagavi (K' The BJP sought to fend off criticism of its treatment of Lingayat leaders as party national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh on Thursday said only a leader from the community will become Chief Minister in the state and revealed that it is a "universal truth" in the party.
Belagavi (K'taka), Apr 20 (PTI) The BJP sought to fend off criticism of its treatment of Lingayat leaders as party national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh on Thursday said only a leader from the community will become Chief Minister in the state and revealed that it is a "universal truth" in the party.
His categorical statement came a day after Lingayat leaders of the BJP raised the pitch with a campaign to name a leader from the community for the CM post in the poll-bound state to counter the Congress' narrative of branding the ruling party as "anti-Lingayat".
The politically-influential Lingayat community comprises about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population, mostly in northern parts of the state that the BJP counts as its strong vote base.
Senior Lingayat leaders Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi quit the BJP over denial of ticket to contest in the May 10 Assembly elections and joined the Congress.
Also Read | Delhi Rains: Light Rain Brings Respite to National Capital Amid Heatwave Conditions (Watch Video).
The ruling party has been on damage-control mode since then with the Congress accusing it of doing "injustice" to Lingayats and going against the interests of the community with just a few weeks to go for polling.
Lingayat leaders from the BJP met at the residence of party strongman and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday evening, where there were suggestions for countering the Congress narrative by projecting a Lingayat face as the next CM in the event of the party retaining power.
On Thursday, Singh hit out at the Congress for creating a narrative that the BJP did injustice to the Lingayats following the exit of Shettar and Savadi, saying that the opposition party has no other issue left with it.
"Congress does not have any other issue. They are saying that we did injustice to Lingayat. How is it possible? Lingayats are the ones contesting the election. In Hubballi also, a Banajiga Lingayat party worker is contesting the election," Singh told reporters in Belagavi, referring to BJP candidate from Hubli-Dharwad Central seat Mahesh Tenginkai.
There was no injustice to anyone as the entire Lingayat community is with the BJP, he asserted.
To a question whether a Lingayat will become CM, the party state in-charge said: "It is known to everyone. It is a universal truth in the BJP who will be the chief minister."
When asked if his statement meant that only a Lingayat will become chief minister if BJP wins in Karnataka, Singh said: "It is. Just see."
In the last 50 years, the BJP leader said the Congress had only one chief minister in the state coming from the Lingayat community (former CM Veerendra Patil) and that too only for nine months.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)