BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is likely to visit New Delhi for two days after April 5 and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman and their cabinet colleagues to present copies of his maiden and last full-fledged budget of the BJP government before the 2023 Assembly polls.
As his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin met Modi on Thursday and sought the extension of GST compensation to states by another two years beyond June 2022, Bommai's meeting with Nirmala will be more significant as he is the chairman of Group of Ministers (GoM) on GST rationalisation.
Bommai will explain the essence of his budget and its repercussions on the government and the party to the national leadership. He also has to impress on the central leadership to release the grant-in-aid to the state.
Bommai, who held an all-party meeting on inter-state water disputes and also piloted a unanimous resolution condemning Tamil Nadu’s resolution against the Mekedatu project, is also likely to meet Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
It is interesting to see whether he will also call on Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav, who is close to Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and is in the know of political affairs concerning Karnataka.
Cabinet reshuffle and appointments to boards and corporations to give a ‘fresh’ administrative look to his government may also come up during Bommai’s Delhi visit.
BJP committee to appreciate CM Basavaraj Bommai
The state BJP executive committee meeting slated to be held on April 16 and 17 at Vijayanagara is likely to pass a resolution appreciating Bommai’s budget, calling it development-oriented. Party's national president JP Nadda will inaugurate the meeting which will be held at Tourism Minister Anand Singh's residence.
Singh had met KPCC president DK Shivakumar at the latter’s residence in Bengaluru recently. The BJP executive committee meeting at Singh's residence is to send out a message that he is not quitting the party, especially after its performance in four states, sources said.