BELAGAVI: Amid speculation that former Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi is planning to quit as MLA, upset over not being re-inducted into the state cabinet, his close friend and Athani MLA Mahesh Kumathalli said the former will not quit, and never planned to do so. He called reports on the possible resignation of Jarkiholi to the position of MLA as “totally false” and said that all rumours of his exit were unfounded.
He clarified that Jarkiholi’s meeting with former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday was apolitical. Even as a section of the media contended that Kumathalli was one of the few MLAs with whom Jarkiholi went to meet Fadnavis, he claimed that he did not go to Mumbai at all. “We have accepted the leadership of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and he will continue to be CM until he completes his full term in office,’’ he added.
Appreciating the way in which Yediyurappa is leading the government and party, Kumathalli said the CM shouldered his responsibilities effectively, whether in handling the Covid crisis, flood situation or drought in the state.