BENGALURU: Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, who flew to New Delhi on Sunday with plans of meeting the BJP central leadership, had to cut short his trip and return on Monday. The Belagavi ‘sahukar’ had gone to Delhi with a fixed schedule to meet BJP National President JP Nadda and nursed hopes of meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well.
With Shah testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, and many leaders of the BJP, including Union ministers going into quarantine, Jarkiholi returned to Karnataka on Monday. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa testing positive for the coronavirus also contributed to Jarkiholi’s trip being cut short. “All meetings stand postponed but the minister held a meeting with Karnataka’s legal team and technical experts on water resources projects.
He will return to New Delhi next week and meet Union ministers, including Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,” said an official from Jarkiholi’s office. Jarkiholi’s trip to Delhi had come barely days after Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi met Union ministers and the BJP central leadership, sparking off speculation of unrest in the State government. Jarkiholi’s visit, sources said, was centred around lobbying for the DyCM post for himself, and ministerial berths for his compatriots H Vishwanath, MTB Nagaraj and R Shankar. Jarkiholi was hoping to convince the BJP central leadership to make him DyCM, as promised, in place of Savadi, but his trip had to be cut short.