Expelled BJP leader and former Karnataka deputy chief minister K.S. Eshwarappa, on Tuesday, raked up a controversy by giving a call to "cut off" hands of those who slaughter the cows (gau mata) considered holy mother by Hindus.
"Today, the country is in danger as people have forgotten their duty to protect 'dharma' and 'gau mata'. Let us vow to cut off the hands of those who kill our cows. This forum is not meant for political reasons but to protect ‘Hindutva’ and Hindu religion," said Eshwarappa, during the launch of 'Krantiveera Brigade' at Basavana Bagewadi in Vijayapura on Tuesday.
Eshwarappa is striving to stay relevant in state politics after his expulsion from the saffron party last April after he chose to contest as a rebel candidate from Shivamogga Parliament constituency against sitting BJP MP BY Raghavendra. The veteran leader, with RSS background, seems to have chosen Hindutva as a plank to retrace his steps into the party, which has expelled him for six years.
The Kuruba (OBC) leader from Shivamogga and a contemporary of former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who hopes to consolidate the OBC votes to counter both the Lingayat-centric politics of the BJP and the Congress’s Ahinda leader and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (also Kuruba), claimed that the 1,008 seers belonging to the various OBC mutts would work together to unite and protect Hindutva and safeguard the interests of the farmers, who are at the risk of losing their farmlands to the Waqf Board.
“If some people are being petty and playing caste card to their advantage in politics, let us not be tempted to behave like them. We must be the bigger person and fight to unite all the communities,” taunted Eshwarappa, indirectly referring to the caste-based appointments in the saffron party.
Interestingly, some seers batted for reinduction of Eshwarappa into the BJP saying the BJP had lost power because of "sidelining" Eshwarappa who had toiled hard to build the party. "Eshwarappa deserved to be the chief minister but was sidelined. BJP should take him back and take his guidance," said Someshwara Swami of Makhanapura.
"Eshwarappa has been the deputy CM and in future, he will become the CM," said Chandrashekhara Swami of Hubballi.
It may be recalled that Eshwarappa had quit as RDPR minister in the Bommai-government in 2022 over an allegation of corruption linked to the suicide of a contractor Santosh Patil. Subsequently, the 75-year-old leader had announced his retirement from electoral politics in 2023, after the party denied tickets to senior leaders to pave the way for new faces and to fight anti-incumbency. However, he was upset after his son K.E. Kanthesh was denied a ticket to contest the Parliament elections and contested (and lost) as a rebel candidate against BJP sitting MP B.Y. Raghavendra, son of veteran BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa.
The ‘Krantiveera’ brigade is named after the Kuruba icon Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna, an 18th-century warrior and commander-in-chief of Rani Chennamma of Kittur (in Belagavi). He was hanged by the British for ‘treason’. And this is the second time that Eshwarappa is floating a forum to unite the OBC communities. In 2017, the ‘Sangolli Rayanna Brigade’ by Eshwarappa was dismantled following BJP high command’s order to prevent further splintering of the party.