Syed Sujeel Ahmed | India Tomorrow
BENGALURU—”We will give poll ticket to candidates belonging to any community among Hindus but not to Muslims”, said Karnataka Minister for Rural Development K S Eshwarappa on Saturday in Belagavi district of Karnataka.
While speaking to mediapersons, Eshwarappa said, “We (may) give it to Lingayats, Kurubas, Vokkaligas, or Brahmins, but we will not give (it) to Muslims.”
He further added, “Belagavi is one of the centers of Hindutva. There is no question of us giving tickets to Muslims here.” By-election to the Belagavi parliamentary constituency is due any time next year.
Eshwarappa’s has been voicing similar views from past year. Earlier in April last year in Koppal district of Karnataka, he had said that BJP will not give tickets to Muslims to contest the elections as they do not believe in the party.
In November last year, when 15 out of 17 disqualified rebel MLAs from Congress, JD(S) and an independent joined the BJP, Muslim rebel Congress MLA Roushan Baig was denied entry in the BJP purportedly under pressure from Eshwarappa. Immediately after the meeting on induction of the rebel MLAs got over, Eshwarappa told reporters, “We don’t want Roshan Baig (in the BJP) at any cost, I don’t want to tell any reason.” Roushan Baig is a former seven-time MLA from Shivaji Nagar assembly constituency in Bengaluru, who resigned along with 16 other MLAs, to topple Kumaraswamy led Congress-JD(s) government paving way for the formation of the present BJP government in Karnataka.
By-election to the Belagavi parliamentary constituency was necessitated due to the death of Minister of State for Railways Suresh Channabasappa Angadi in September this year due to COVID-19. Suresh had got elected to the Parliament on BJP ticket for the last four Lok Sabha elections since 2004.
