Daijiworld Media Network - Belagavi (MS)

Belagavi, Nov 29: State rural development and Panchayat Raj minister K S Eshwarappa has said that the BJP will not give ticket to any Muslim candidate in the by-election to Belagavi Lok Sabha seat.

Speaking in the city, Eshwarappa said, "Whether we give (ticket) to Kurubas or Lingayats or Vokkaligas or Brahmins, we will not give to a Muslim.

"Belagavi is the center of Hindutva. BJP will not give ticket to anyone belonging to the Muslim community here. We will give tickets to Hindutva proponents. I don't know whether we will give tickets to followers of Shankaracharya, Rani Chennamma or Sangolli Rayanna," he added.

He further said that state and national leaders of the party will select a candidate who can gain the trust of the people and win the election.

"In BJP, there is no question of Kuruba, Lingayat, Vokkaliga or Brahmin community. We will all sit together and discuss. This is the system, it is democratic. No party other than the BJP has such a democratic system," he added.

The Belagavi Lok Sabha seat fell vacant recently following the death of Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi, who represented the seat, due to COVID-19.

The bypoll for the seat is yet to be announced by the Election Commission.

This is not the first time Eshwarappa has made such comments.

In April last year, Eshwarappa had in Koppal said BJP will not give tickets to Muslims to contest the elections as they do not believe in the party.

However, he had subsequently clarified that he was not hater of any community including Muslims and his statement was in response to a question about a specific leader from the community getting a ticket from the BJP.

With PTI inputs