Mysore/Mysuru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said the BJP is going to increase its stake in North Karnataka, despite the exit of senior leaders Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi.

“Mark my words. Nothing is going to change. We are going to increase our stake in North Karnataka and we will come back with a thumping majority,” Bommai told reporters here.

He wondered why the Congress is concerned about Lingayats who have been ill-treated for the last 50 years. “They (Congress) have ill-treated former CM late Veerendra Patil and Rajashekar Patil. They also ill-treated former CMs S. Bangarappa and D. Devaraj Urs. People are aware of their use and throw politics. Congress has not only neglected Lingayats for 50 years, but also neglected Vokkaligas and Backward Castes,” he told reporters.

These remarks came in the light of AICC General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala’s comments that “BJP is doing injustice to Lingayats and other communities too including Vokkaligas. BJP is doing injustice to Lingayat community with bad intentions. They are also insulting Lingayat leaders and cheating on them. The Bommai Government also cheated SC, ST and OBCs. The same fraud was committed in the Vokkaliga community.”

Reacting to it, Minister C.C. Patil said Lingayats do not need the sympathy of the Congress as it had been neglecting the community for a long time.

“After former CM Jagadish Shettar’s issue, all of a sudden the Congress is expressing sympathy for Lingayats. Yediyurappa, Bommai and V. Sommana, belong to which community? I belong to which community?” asked Patil also a Lingayat.