BENGALURU: “We have written the examinations, and are waiting for results,” was Tourism Minister CP Yogeeshwara’s cryptic reaction to questions on dissidence in the BJP. He may have been referring to his recent meeting with BJP General Secretary Arun Singh.
Yogeeshwara, who had called for a press meet on Friday, said he was working to strengthen the party in Old Mysuru. “What is wrong if Yediyurappa continues as CM for the next two years?’’ he asked, and said he had been told not to issue statements on the leadership issue in public.
He said the party needs to grow stronger, and its weakness lay in its collusion with Congress and JDS members. He said he was raising issues with the central leadership to ensure that the government does not “become a coalition or adjustment politics”. Yogeeshwara said the era of certain Vokkaliga leaders in the Congress and JDS is over, and it is now the era of BJP Vokkaliga leaders. Yogeshwara is a five-time MLA from different parties.
Meanwhile, sources said that CM B S Yediyurappa and his family gathered for a family dinner at a private resort at the foothills of Nandi Hills on Wednesday evening. It was after that meeting that party vice-president B Y Vijayendra left for New Delhi on a hush-hush visit.
On Friday, highly-placed BJP sources claimed that Yediyurappa slipped out of Cauvery around 6.30am in an unofficial car, and drove to Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s residence in RT Nagar. Later, he visited the residence of DyCM Govind Karjol and Laxman Savadi’s residence, and returned home at 9.30am.
When TNIE cross-checked with sources in the CMO, they said he did not visit anyone on Friday morning, either in a private or official car. One source also claimed that BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav had visited Karnataka, but Yadavsaid that he had not come down south. Another source said the party’s Central leadership is meeting in about a week’s time to decide on leadership in UP, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, which are going to polls in 2022.
Ravi, Yogeeshwara leave for Delhi
In a day of continuing developments, Yogeeshwara left for Delhi on a late evening flight. Earlier in the evening, National General Secretary CT Ravi left for Delhi, after participating in a BJP office-bearers meeting. Meanwhile, BJP state vice-president BY Vijayendra, who was in Delhi, returned to Bengaluru on Friday.