On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the former for his dedication to the BJP over the phone, days after the former minister and current lawmaker K S Eshwarappa’s son was refused a ticket by the BJP to run in the next elections in Karnataka.
For the Shivamogga Assembly seat in Karnataka, which is headed for elections, Channabasappa was chosen above his son as the candidate.
Eshwarappa uploaded a video of a phone chat he had with Modi and also recently declared his retirement from political politics. You can hear the prime minister stating on the video, “You have shown your dedication to the party. I’m delighted with you. I thus chose to speak with you.
Modi is also heard in the video indicating that he would see him anytime he travels to Karnataka, which is up for election. In response, Eshwarappa assured Modi that the BJP would triumph in the forthcoming election.
Eshwarappa afterwards spoke to reporters and stated, “I had no idea that the Prime Minister would contact me, not even in my dream. His call has motivated me. The poll in Shivamogga will go our way. Additionally, we would do every effort to bring the BJP to power in Karnataka.
The former minister further said that he took his choice to leave electoral politics without giving it much consideration when party president J P Nadda and BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh phoned him with the request.
Eshwarappa, who is he?
Former deputy chief minister Eshwarappa has expressed his desire to leave electoral politics to the BJP central leadership. However, it is said that the five-term MLA from the Shivamogga seat requested a ticket for his son K E Kantesh from the district. But despite the senior leader’s appeal, the party gave Channabasappa the ticket.
Many were surprised by the minister’s decision to retire given his efforts to hang on after resigning as the minister of rural development and panchayat raj last year after a contractor killed himself and claimed the minister had harassed him for a 40% commission on a road project worth Rs 4 crore that he had completed.
Eshwarappa allegedly requested reinstatement in the Cabinet even though the police investigation found no evidence against him. The gathering, however, paid it little attention. In reality, Eshwarappa is the target of corruption investigations being looked into by the Lokayukta police when he was serving as deputy chief minister. Hundreds of his fans demonstrated outside his Shivamogga home, shouting slogans and setting tyres on fire to show their disapproval of his choice shortly after the BJP announced its initial list of candidates.
Cong. response
However, the BJP was charged by the Congress of supporting corruption. They said that it was “inacceptable” for Prime Minister Modi to commend Eshwarappa for being compliant despite not receiving a voting ticket. They said on Twitter that “this man is accused of demanding a 40% commission and was forced to resign over corruption charges after BJP member Santosh Patil committed suicide.”
The spokesman for the Congress, Pawan Khera, alluded to Satyapal Malik’s statement that “the prime minister has no problem with corruption” and said that the prime minister was just seeking the support of a figure who had been fired as a minister in order to get votes.