‘Cabinet without Ramesh Jarkiholi is incomplete;’ Vishwanath bats for ‘Sahukar’

Shyam Sundar Vattam |NT

Taking the side of beleaguered Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, BJP MLC A.H. Vishwanath said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should impress upon the BJP high command to consider his name for induction during the Cabinet rejig considering his lead role in the installation of the BJP government led by B.S. Yediyurappa in 2019.

“No one can refute the contributions of Ramesh in the making of B.S. Yediyurappa Chief Minister for the fourth time, that too by taking a lot of risk. But the Gokak MLA was ‘fixed’ by a few BJP leaders themselves in a case and was forced to resign on moral grounds. Any new Cabinet will be incomplete without Ramesh Jarkiholi”, Vishwanath told News Trail.

According to him, the high command had promised to take Jarkiholi into the Cabinet once he got the clean chit from the investigative agencies in the alleged sex scandal case which surfaced last year. Had Ramesh not taken the lead and got together 16 MLAs from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), the BJP would not have got the chance to come to power in the State in 2019. These Congress and JD(S) lawmakers had to face the ire of voters and citizens for switching their loyalty to the saffron party and for dislodging the Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy. As promised, the high command inducted a majority of them into the Cabinet and also gave them plum posts.

Continuing in the same vein, he said, “I lost the election due the conspiracy hatched by some BJP leaders who connived with the JD(S) leaders of Hunsur. Subsequently, I was nominated to the Legislative Council from a different field. Because of this technical glitch, I lost the chance of becoming a minister despite being a senior legislator”.

Vishwanath said that accusing Ramesh Jarkiholi of being responsible for the defeat of sitting BJP MLC Mahantesh Kavatagimath in the biennial elections to the State legislative Council from the local bodies, the party has totally sidelined him. The Gokak MLA must be considered during the coming Cabinet rejig expected which is expected to take place during the first or second week of next month as his services would be required for the BJP in the 2023 Assembly polls. “I am like an Opposition leader within the BJP. I will say what is correct and I am not bothered about what others say as I am not after power or post. I don’t want to be the ‘chamcha’ of anyone to become minister”.

Taking a dig at the state government’s silence on the economic boycott of nonHindu traders in various temples across Karnataka, the BJP MLC said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should have intervened and issued directions against it as it would tarnish the image of Karnataka. The state is known for religious tolerance and is the karma bhumi of saints like Shishunala Sharief. ‘’What will happen if Muslim countries send back all the Indians there? Will we be able to provide jobs to everyone?’’ he wondered.