NEW DELHI: Vijayapura MP and BJP leader Ramesh Jigajinagi has expressed his disappointment over not being appointed as a Minister in the Union Council of Ministers.
Jigajinagi, who is a seven-term Dalit MP, voiced his feelings of being “deeply hurt” by the decision, emphasizing the support Dalits have given to the BJP.
“In the whole of South India, I am the only Dalit MP to have been elected to Parliament seven times.Look at my luck – all the upper castes became cabinet ministers. Didn’t Dalits support BJP? I am deeply hurt,” said Jigajinagi in Vijayapura.
He clarified that his frustration was not driven by personal ambition for a cabinet post but by the criticism he received from his constituents.
“I don’t seek a cabinet post for myself. When I returned to my constituency, many people criticised me. Many had warned me earlier that the BJP is anti-Dalit,” he added.
He questioned the fairness of his exclusion from the cabinet, noting the public pressure on him to secure a ministerial position.
“There is pressure from the people for me to become a minister at the centre. Is it fair or unfair?” he questioned.
Ramesh Jigajinagi has built a solid political career over four decades, winning parliamentary elections seven times consecutively—three times from the Chikkodi constituency and four times from the Bijapur constituency.
He secured a significant victory in the 2024 general elections from Karnataka’s Bijapur Parliamentary Constituency with a margin of 77,229 votes, obtaining a total of 672,781 votes.
In the same 2024 general elections, the BJP won 17 out of the 28 Parliamentary Constituencies in Karnataka.
The Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) secured 9 and 2 seats, respectively.
In this election, the BJP had allied with JD-S, with the BJP contesting 25 seats and JD-S 3 seats.
In Modi’s Cabinet 3.0, two leaders from Karnataka have been given key positions. HD Kumaraswamy from Janata Dal (Secular) has been appointed as Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel.
Nirmala Sitharaman, representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, has been reappointed as the Finance Minister, a portfolio she previously held.