Siddaramaiah advises BJP, great opportunity to declare Dalit leader as PM Modi’s successor

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday suggested to the BJP that it now has a golden opportunity to nominate a Dalit leader as the next Prime Minister as Narendra Modi has turned 75 and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has hinted at the Prime Minister’s political retirement. In a media statement addressed to Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra, Siddaramaiah said he should consider his own party instead of wasting time on the Congress. The Chief Minister said that this initiative should start from yourself. Instead of preaching to others, why don’t you suggest the name of a Dalit leader as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate? Whether it is Govind Karjol or Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, if you propose their names, I will be the first to congratulate you. Karjol and Narayanaswamy are BJP leaders coming from the Scheduled Caste community. The Chief Minister attacked Vijayendra, saying that he is not even able to secure the stability of the chair he is sitting on but dares to advise the Congress on who should be our Prime Ministerial candidate. He said that this is not only a display of his ignorance and self-deception but also of his arrogant entitlement. If Vijayendra has any reading habit, he should familiarise himself with the history of how the BJP has treated the backward classes, Dalits and minorities of this country. He should consider the shameful episode of Bangaru Laxman, a Dalit leader who was made the party’s national president by the BJP only to defame him by accusing him of corruption and send him to jail, a humiliation which ultimately led to his death.