Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to resign after NDA-backed candidates won all four recent by-elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council.
In remarks carried in a TV9 Kannada video, Yediyurappa described the outcome as an expression of anti-incumbency. He said teachers and graduates had delivered a verdict that, in his view, weakened the government’s moral claim to remain in office.
Yediyurappa calls for a fresh mandate
Asked whether the result could point to the next Assembly election, Yediyurappa said it could, citing the participation of educated voters, teachers and graduates. He urged Siddaramaiah to step down and seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.
He cites governance and farm concerns
Yediyurappa also criticised the government over what he called inadequate development, poor law-and-order conditions, corruption, alleged irregularities in the Karnataka Public Service Commission, rising prices, farmer distress and delays in old-age and disability pensions. He cited a figure of about 3,500 farmer suicides, but the video did not provide supporting records for that claim.
He further referred to a remark he attributed to Siddaramaiah about not having funds to pay sugarcane growers, using it to question the state’s finances. The underlying exchange was not included in the clip, so the characterisation remains Yediyurappa’s claim.
The four-seat result comprised JD(S)-backed A P Ranganath in Bengaluru Teachers, and BJP candidates Shashil Namoshi, S V Sankanur and K M Suresha in the other constituencies. Read our reports on Ranganath’s Bengaluru Teachers victory and Suresha’s South East Graduates win.
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Atul Chaturvedi 
