BENGALURU: Two days after an alleged meeting of disgruntled legislators at Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar’s residence and an anonymous letter seeking a change in the leadership of BS Yediyurappa because of his age, 77, BJP general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Muralidhar Rao on Wednesday said, “Do you think Modiji and Amit Shahji are not aware of his age? BJP leaders have taken the decision of making him the chief minister after considering all these facts.”
Asked about the letter which states that Yediyurappa should be sent to the Margadarshak Mandal, Rao said, “Yediyurapa will continue as CM for the full length of his term. Do you think the party is full of fools to believe this? This is nothing but gossip.”
On the speculation of dissidence brewing in the party state unit and whether it would be a repeat of 2008-09 when Yediyurappa had to give up his post before completing his term, Rao said, “The situation is different now, and both Delhi and Bangalore are more stable. The question of leadership change does not arise. Within the system, there is no formal demand for a leadership change.”
Rao said, “Rebels who have come from other parties have been accommodated. Since they kept up their promise, they have been inducted into the ministry and there is no controversy. The talk of some leaders lobbying for ministerial berths and some others forming groups... this is all the natural process of a party, isn’t it?” But political analyst BS Murthy warned that there could be more trouble brewing for Yediyurappa in the coming days.