BENGALURU: As Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basavaraj Bommai and BJP State Vice-President BY Vijayendra headed to New Delhi on Saturday by a special flight, there was intense speculation about a possible leadership change in Karnataka.
There was a buzz in corridors of power that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa might just make way for another leader, with some guessing that the central leadership would immediately anoint a successor to Yediyurappa. Party members opposed to Yediyurappa said there is definitely no smoke without fire, but Vijayendra doused all such speculation.
“There is no question of a leadership change. I am in Delhi to sort out some legal issues and will return on Sunday. Some people are talking of a leadership change, but that is not true,” he told TNSE. Asked if he had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, he said it was not part of his itinerary, making it clear that leadership change was not on the cards.
Meanwhile, highly placed sources confirmed what Vijayendra said. “There is no leadership change, how can anyone change the Chief Minister when there is a raging pandemic? The focus is on sorting out Covid issues.” A source within the State government said the duo could be in Delhi to clarify on the Jindal land deal. “There have been murmurs of corruption in this deal and also Covid management, with minister like CP Yogeshwara and other MLAs complaining to the central leadership,” the source said.
The deal involved the handover of over 3,600 acres of land to Jindal. There is reportedly a legal issue to be handled, which brought State Advocate-General Prabhuling Navadgi too to Delhi.