BENGALURU: Just days after the BJP high command projected Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as the face of the party for the 2023 Assembly polls, which reportedly has not gone down well with several leaders within the party, Bommai called on his ‘guide’ and predecessor BS Yediyurappa on Sunday morning.
Party sources said that the one-on-one, closed-door meeting was part of continuing efforts of Bommai to keep the senior leader in good humour, especially ahead of the legislature session beginning from September 13. This is to safeguard each others’ interests on the floor of the House, as the opposition Congress is reportedly planning to raise the issue of several alleged scams during the Yediyurappa government, party sources said.
The meeting, dubbed as a courtesy call, lasted about 15 minutes at Yediyurappa’s residence Cauvery. Party workers felt that the hush-hush tête-a-tête could also be to discuss appointments to various boards and corporations. Bommai could not have gone ahead with this crucial decision without consulting Yediyurappa, they pointed out.
Bommai may have tried to draw from Yediyurappa’s experience on handling the crucial zilla and taluk panchayat elections, which are the first litmus test for the new chief minister, they said. Earlier in the day, at the inauguration of the government’s flagship scheme -- ‘CM’s Raitha Makkala Vidhyanidhi’, which is aimed at helping children of farmers with financial aid for their education at the Banquet Hall of Vidhana Soudha, Bommai termed Yediyurappa as the Karnataka BJP government’s ‘guide’.
“Apart from presenting a budget dedicated to the agriculture sector for the first time in the country, Yediyurappa implemented many pro-farmers schemes,” Bommai said in his speech. Last week during his visit to the State, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that Yediyurappa resigned on his own and picked Bommai as his successor. This effectively means that the high command has passed on the task of cajoling Yediyurappa to Bommai, a BJP leader said.