The former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will not contest the Lok Sabha elections.
He told The Hindu here on Sunday neither him nor his son B.Y. Raghavendra were keen to contest the elections. Mr. Yeddyurappa said the Bharatiya Janata Party should field a good candidate from the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency and expressed the hope that he would win.
He was here to attend a party programme. A section of BJP leaders had urged Mr. Yeddyurappa to contest from Shimoga at a party function on Saturday.
Referring to the statement made by the former Deputy Chief Minister K.S. Eshwarappa that Mr. Yeddyurappa should become a Union Minister in the event of the party forming the next government at the Centre, the former Chief Minister said he did not aspire for power.
He said if he ever wanted to become a Union Minister, he would have accepted the offer made by then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee.
“I have not asked for any role in the party while I merged the Karnataka Janata Paksha with the BJP.”
Mr. Yeddyurappa said he would work hard to make Gurajat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the next Prime Minister. Mr. Yeddyurappa said there was no enmity between him and Mr. Eshwarappa. He said: “We have forgotten everything.”
Mr. Yeddyurappa denied the allegation that the BJP was encouraging communalism in Dakshina Kannada district.
He alleged that the Congress was engaging in communalism. “The Union Home Minister sends a message to the States to be cautious while arresting those belonging to the minorities. Do we have different laws for minorities and the majority?,” he said.
