Former Prime Minister and veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa on Thursday called on the party to independently secure majority in the 2028 Karnataka Assembly elections and remove the Congress government from power.
Addressing the state executive meeting held in the city, where he was felicitated for completing 50 years in politics, Yeddyurappa urged party workers to work towards forming the government on their own. In his statements, he did not mention the party’s alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular).
“I want to ask you one thing. In the upcoming Assembly elections, we must come to power on our own and thus remove the corrupt Congress government. I know it is not difficult for you and I am confident that you will remove the Congress government,” he said.
The BJP has ruled Karnataka twice, but has never won a simple majority on its own. On both occasions, Yeddyurappa became Prime Minister with the support of independents or dissidents, in a political exercise that became known as “Operation Kamala”.
Yeddyurappa, now 82, said he was still willing to actively campaign for the party. “God willing, I will be able to tour the state for another five to six years,” he said. “I am willing to come wherever you want me and work for the party.”
The BJP also passed four resolutions at the meeting held at the palace grounds. It includes rampant corruption in the state, misuse of government funds, rising drug menace, agricultural problem and garbage crisis in Bengaluru.
Karnataka has already entered the election phase, party state president P Vijayendra said and urged workers to prepare for a series of assembly polls scheduled over the coming months, including gram panchayat, taluk and zilla panchayat elections, council elections, council by-elections and Greater Bengaluru Authority elections. “We need to be in electoral mode and win all the upcoming elections. This is a precursor to the 2028 House of Representatives elections,” he said.
He added that dissatisfaction with the government was growing and called on party members to remain united. He said, “There is popular anger against the government. We have given this government calm together, and the election season will begin in the next six to seven months. Let us work with one voice in the elections.”
Vijayendra accused the government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of failing to fill vacant positions and address public concerns. “The people of the state have lost complete confidence in this government. People from all sectors are in distress. Although 285,000 posts are vacant, no appointments have been made. They are anti-people, anti-poor, anti-women and creating chaos in the state,” he said.
He also claimed that some lawmakers from the ruling party were dissatisfied. “The situation has reached a stage where the ruling party’s MLAs have revolted against this government. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself is trying to appease the MLAs by sending them abroad as they are unable to generate funds. In the midst of all this, the responsibility on our shoulders has increased. People are looking at us as we tell them about the government’s failures,” he said.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat described the meeting as a review and planning exercise, saying it reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India and reaffirms the party’s resolve to regain power in Karnataka.
He invoked the legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, recalling former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s words when he said when the BJP rises, “the darkness will fade away and the lotus will bloom”, describing it as a call for organizational renewal. He also noted that the party has grown from its origins in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh into what he described as the largest political organization in the world.
