By IANS,
New Delhi : Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who stole the show at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meeting here Sunday, gave credit to his senior party colleagues for the victory in the southern state last month.
“The victory in Karnataka is the result of collective and sincere efforts of party workers under the leadership of senior party colleagues,” Yeddyurappa told reporters on the sidelines of the BJP national executive meeting here.
“People have reposed faith in policies and principles of the BJP and we will not disappoint them,” he said.
The BJP won in a southern state for the first time when it got 110 seats in the 225-member Karnataka assembly, results of which were declared May 25.
Yeddyurappa, who was declared the party’s chief ministerial candidate before the poll campaign began, played a crucial role in the BJP’s victory.
At the conclave, he emerged as the star and was hailed by party president Rajnath Singh for his commendable leadership and for helping the party win the state elections.
“The victory of Karnataka will prove to be a milestone in Indian politics… the victory symbolises not only the political expansion of the BJP but also its social and geographical expansion,” said Singh in his inaugural speech.
The BJP leaders were happy to have another hero in Yeddyurappa after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who led the party to victory in December.
Mediapersons courted Yeddyurappa instead of Modi – as was the norm in the earlier BJP conclaves. In fact, he seemed to have overshadowed Modi.
“It could be for a day, but he was the hero. His victory in Karnataka has given the BJP a new image. It has become a national party in the real sense of the term now,” said a BJP functionary.
Yeddyurappa was the man of the moment right from his arrival at the airport here. A contingent of workers led by Delhi BJP unit chief Harshvardhan received Yeddyurappa with bouquets and thunderous sloganeering at the airport.
The conference hall of the Parliament Annexe building, the venue of the party’s two-day meet that began Sunday, reverberated with victory slogans when Leader of Opposition and BJP’s veteran leader L.K. Advani called all chief ministers to the dais.