“I do not fear expulsion. I have decided to contest as an independent candidate. And I hope to win,” said KS Eshwarappa, former Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who has been expelled from the party.
Eshwarappa, who thinks of returning to the BJP after emerging victorious, has been removed from the saffron clan for six years on the pretext of violating party discipline and bringing disgrace to the party for contesting Lok Sabha polls independently.
The expelled leader, further, said: “I have contested elections on Lotus symbol for five times. I might compete independently this time. However, will go back to the BJP after winning the polls.”
Former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, Eshwarappa, who had also served as the party’s state unit president, has entered the poll fray, blaming state BJP president BY Vijayendra and his father and veteran party leader BS Yediyurappa, for his son KE Kantesh being denied the ticket to contest from Haveri.
Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has been contesting from Haveri on BJP’s ticket, while Vijayendra’s brother and MP BY Raghavendra is the BJP candidate from Shimoga.
It has been learnt that Eshwarappa, 75, remained steadfast in his decision to contest independently, although party leaders tried to pacify him.
The party’s decision to expel the former Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council came on the last day of withdrawal of candidatures for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka on May 7.
Eshwarappa, along with Yediyurappa and late HN Ananth Kumar, are credited for building the BJP from the grassroots in Karnataka.
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