HUBLI
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to say that if he has love for Lingayats, he will make a Lingayat candidate the Chief Minister. Speaking at his residence in the city, he said, after this election, we will decide the leadership. We have already made three Lingayats the Chief Minister. If the Congress has love for Lingayats, let them say that they will make a Lingayat candidate the CM. Siddaramaiah is yet to apologise for his statement that Lingayats are corrupt. Siddaramaiah should apologise. A complaint has already been lodged with the Election Commission in this regard. We are going to the polls this time under the guidance of Basavaraj Bommai.
This time the party will come to power on its own strength. In the last two terms, we did not come to power on our own. Jagadish Shettar leaving the party will not have any effect. The old player is retired, but he has gone to play for another team. This time the cup is ours, Joshi said against Shettar.
Reacting to the statement that the Lingayat community is the BJP’s weapon, he said, the Lingayat community is not a weapon for us. It was the Congress which insulted the Lingayats. Reacting to Shettar’s allegations against B L Santhosh, he said, Amit Shah said, this decision is at the level of Modi. Amit Shah himself spoke to Jagadish Shettar and told him that a new generation should come and we have decided to give you a big role.
