 "Siddaramaiah follows in Rahul Gandhi's footsteps, challenges Narendra Modi to debate on crime in Karnataka")
Hitting back at the prime minister for his “2+1 formula” jibe at him, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said Narendra Modi’s formula to win the Assembly election in the state is “2 Reddys + 1 Yeddy”. Siddaramaiah also challenged Modi to an ‘open debate’ on crime in Karnataka, days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi threw a similar challenge to the prime minister.
Responding to Modi’s jibe at an election rally earlier on Tuesday, on him contesting from two constituencies “with fear of losing” and also over “fielding his son for the 12 May polls”, the Karnataka chief minister pointed out that the prime minister had also contested from two seats during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Attacking Modi over BJP fielding brothers of tainted mining baron G Janardhan Reddy in the Assembly elections, the chief minister said: “‘2 Reddys+1 Yeddy’ was Modi’s formula to win the election.” “Today, the prime minister avoided talking about his complicity in closing CBI cases against the Reddy brothers. Instead, he spoke about some 2+1 formula. Here is the explanation of his formula to win the election. 2 Reddys + 1 Yeddy,” he said in another tweet. ‘Yeddy’ is a reference to BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa. Pointing out that even Modi contested from two constituencies — Varanasi and Vadodara — in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the chief minister told the prime minister to worry about his party not crossing 60-70 seats.
Addressing a rally at Santhemarahalli in Chamarajanagara district, Modi termed Siddarammaiah contesting from two seats, and his son Yatindra also contesting the 12 May polls, as a Kannada version of Congress’ family politics. He said, “I was reading the newspaper a couple of days ago and I found that in Karnataka, the 2+1 formula is going on. This is nothing but the Kannada version of Congress’ family politics. Due to the fear of defeat, he went in search of another seat,” Modi said. The chief minister, who was earlier fielded from Chamundeshwari in Mysuru, later filed papers from Badami in Bagalkot district as well. Siddaramaiah’s candidature from Badami came amidst reports that the battle at Chamundeshwari was not easy for him. Varuna in Mysuru, from where Siddaramaiah has been contesting since 2008, has been allotted to his son Yatindra this time. With inputs from PTI.