DAVANAGERE: State BJP leadears, who identify with the rebel camp, attended the 74th birthday celebration of former MP G M Siddeshwar at the Renuka Mandir in Davanagere on Tuesday. The move was seen as a counter to B S Yediyurappa loyalist and former Honnali MLA M P Renukacharya.
Among those who attended the birthday celebrations include former MP Pratap Simha, former MLAs Aravind Limbavali, H S Shivashankar and Kumar Bangarappa and MLA B P Harish. Thousands of their supports also took part in the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Shivashankar, a former JD(S) MLA, said, “We didn’t lose because of the Congress, but because of those wearing masks who were with you (Siddeshwar). After their masks came off, we now know that they are our own people. Your own people can bring about your downfall”, he cautioned Siddeshwar.
Chitradurga MP Govind Karjol said, “Victory and defeat are natural, but Siddeshwar should not take it seriously. Though his wife was contesting the polls, he and his son campaigned for me. He was instrumental in expanding the BJP along with Yediyurappa and he still has opportunities in politics”.
Aravind Limbavali questioned why Yediyurappa, who had quit the BJP, returned to the party fold. “Yediyurappa was knocking on the doors of the Congress and JD(S) and it was Siddeshwar who stopped it. It is not easy to win elections six times in a row and it is not right for Yediyurappa to ignore Siddeshwar. When the BJP got a high number of seats for the first time, the party didn’t have an office in Bengaluru. It was Siddeshwar who gave land for the party office”, he stressed.
On his part, Siddeshwar said it was he who took the lead in forming a JDS-BJP coalition government in 2006. “I spoke to Kumaraswamy and we reached an agreement that he will be CM and Yediyurappa will be deputy CM. When we got 110 seats, I got other MLAs and tried to make Yediyurappa the CM. I have never taken anything from him, if anyone can prove I benefited from him, I will retire from politics. Instead, I have helped him on several occasions”, he said.
