Karnataka Assembly Election 2023: BS Yediyurappa Hits Out At Siddaramaiah Over His Quota Hike Promise

THE RULING Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are attempting to win over voters with their election promises as the countdown to the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election has begun. When BJP is attempting to corner the grand old party over reservation for Muslims in Karnataka, Congress said the party is committed to increasing the reservation limit from the current 50 per cent to 75 per cent to all castes based on their population.

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Reacting sharply to Congress leader Siddaramaiah claiming that his party would increase the reservation limit in Karnataka if voted to power in the upcoming Assembly elections, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa said the "poll promise" would never be met as the principal opposition party in the state was headed for defeat.

"Since he (Siddaramaiah) is going to lose miserably, the question of increasing the reservation limit in the state does not arise. We (BJP) are going to do everything in our power to form the government," said veteran Lingayat leader, as quoted by news agency ANI.

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This came after Siddaramaiah, who is also a former chief minister of the state, said, "The Congress party is committed to increasing the reservation limit from 50 per cent to 75 per cent and extending reservation to all castes based on their population."

Congress party is committed to increasing the reservation limit from 50% to 75%, and to increase reservation to all castes based on their population.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 26, 2023

"We are not against increasing the reservation for Vokkaligas or Lingayats or any other community. We support the increase in reservation for everyone based on their population," the Congress leader said in a tweet.

Earlier on Wednesday, Yediyurappa came down heavily on BJP turncoats Jagdish Shettar and Laxman Savadi, who recently switched over to the Congress, saying that they will pay for betraying the ruling party in the May 10 Assembly polls.

Shettar, a former chief minister, and Savadi, a former deputy chief minister, are members of the Lingayat group, which is believed to have influence on election results in the state.

The voting on 224 member Legislative Assembly in Karnataka will be held on May 10 in a single phase while the results will be declared on May 13. A total of 2,613 candidates are in the poll fray for the state election. Out of 2,613 candidates in the poll fray, 2,427 are male, 184 females and 2 others.