BELGAUM/ATHANI: The issue of who would occupy the chief minister’s post in the near future simply refuses to die down in the BJP. On Tuesday, state BJP president K S Eshwarappa said that none from the party or the Sangh Parivar has opposed former CM B S Yeddyurappa chief ministerial ambitions.
“Minister M P Renukacharya and MLA Suresh Gowda have been warned against making statements on the issue,” he added.
On senior party leader B B Shivappa sounding his dissent against Yeddyurappa, Eshwarappa said: “There is no forum as BJP Elders’ Forum (of which Shivappa is the president); Shivappa is not the supreme leader of the party. He has been given a week’s time to respond to a notice about his allegations.”
He said that Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and himself will share the dais at a party programme at Chikkaballapur on January 27. “The BJP is like a family. All internal disputes can be sorted out by understanding,” he reiterated. He added that the separate state tours undertaken by himself and Yeddyurappa are only aimed at strengthening the party.
Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa, while speaking at a function in Chikkodi on Tuesday, attributed his success to the blessings of Mathadishas (heads of mutts). “If I had become a chief minister, it is because of the blessings of the Panchapeetha Veerashaiva Mathadishas,” he said. Yeddyurappa also expressed confidence at emerging unscathed from the charges levelled against him.
Support to the former chief minister came in the form of Rajya Sabha member Prabhakar Kore, who avowed that Yeddyurappa is “their leader”.
The statement is set to cause consternation in the party leadership, especially in view of the recently issued gag orders to all party men on the issue.
The MP, while addressing the media at Yadur village in Chikkodi taluk on Tuesday, though, refused to reveal who else is in his “group” sharing a similar viewpoint. “The BJP rode on Yeddyurappa’s efforts to form its first government south of the Vindhyas. He had toiled for the BJP in state more than any other leader,” he added.
The MP, however, was quick to add that the former CM will neither leave the party nor float one. He also exuded confidence at the party solving the crisis sans any hitches.
Kore attributed the chief minister’s busy schedule to his inability to attend the MP’s function.
“He is also busy in preparing the state budget,” the MP added.