VIJAYAPURA: Vijayapura MP and BJP leader Ramesh Jigajinagi said that he is upset over not being inducted into the Union Council of Ministers, saying, he was “deeply hurt”.
“In the whole of South India, I am the only Dalit MP to have been elected to Parliament seven times. Look at my luck — all the upper castes became cabinet ministers. Didn’t Dalits support BJP? I am deeply hurt”, Jigajinagi said in Vijayapura on Tuesday.
“I don’t seek a cabinet post for myself. When I returned to my constituency, many people criticised me. Many had warned me earlier that the BJP is anti-Dalit”, he added. “There is pressure from people for me to become a minister at the Centre. Is it fair or unfair?” he questioned.
Ramesh Jigajinagi has served as an MP for seven consecutive terms, thrice from Chikkodi constituency and four time from the Bijapur constituency. Throughout his four-decade political career, he has never lost a parliamentary election.
In the 2024 general election, Ramesh Jigajinagi won from Bijapur parliamentary constituency by a margin of 77,229 votes. He had secured 6,72,781. The BJP won 17 out of the 28 parliamentary constituencies in the 2024 general election in Karnataka, while Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) won nine and two seats, respectively.
In the 2024 general election, the BJP and JD-S allied to contest the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka. The BJP fought on 25 seats while the JD-S contested on three seats.
In the Modi Cabinet 3.0, two leaders from Karnataka hold key positions. Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy, the leader of the party, has been appointed as Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel. Nirmala Sitharaman, who represents Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, has been reappointed as the Finance Minister, a crucial portfolio she previously held. (ANI)