More women should be elected to Assembly, says BSY in farewell speech

BENGALURU: Senior BJP leader and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday batted for more women to be elected to the Assembly. he also praised Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri and said, “You have run the House successfully. The next time, you should be a minister and sit in the treasury benches”.

In his  farewell speech in the Assembly on Friday, Yediyurappa said he is indebted to the people of Shikaripura and was making all efforts to repay that debt. He added that he will not forget the people of Shikaripura as he owes all that he has achieved in life to them. “I will turn 80 on February 27. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend my birthday celebrations. The airport in Shivamogga will be inaugurated on my birthday”, he said.

Heaping praise on former Prime Minister H D  Deve Gowda, Yediyurappa said, “Deve Gowda is our role model. Even at his age, he is awake and alert to issues concerning our state. He is our idol and there is so much to learn from him.”

The Assembly on the last day of the legislature session.

He said won’t contest the Assembly polls again, but added that he will fight till his last breath to make the party grow. “I will work to bring the party back to power and I am leaving this House with that confidence’, he said.

“When I was building the party in the state, I would start speaking at rallies and then Atal Bihari Vajpayee and, Murali Manohar Joshi would arrive. The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) is the reason why I have come this far. The training I received during my RSS days helped me become what I am today”, he said. He also paid his tributes to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Yediyurappa stepping out of the Vidhana Soudha on Friday.

“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai too had done good work by raising the reservation for SCs and STs and the fruits of this decision will be reaped in the coming days. “I will tour the state and my aim is to bring the BJP back to power. All of you should get re-elected and no one in the ruling party should not have any doubts and should have the confidence of coming back to power”, he said. He added that Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and several legislators including A T Ramaswamy had done good work”, Yediyurappa noted.

Yediyurappa after garlanding a portrait of Dr B R Ambedkar outside Vidhana Soudha on Friday.

He received a huge round of applause from legislators cutting across party lines. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and several other lawmakers including Sa Ra Mahesh, Bandeppa Kashempur, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar and others also spoke on the concluding day of the legislature session.

After the session, Yediyurappa garlanded portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar near the statues outside the Vidhana Soudha.