BJP top gun backs Bommai: ‘He will remain CM’

Party general secy Arun Singh rubbishes talk of change of guard in state, declares that it is for high command to decide, not local leaders.

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Sending a clear message to those talking about a change of guard in Karnataka, BJP National General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs, Arun Singh said state leaders are not authorized to say anything (on replacing the CM) since the high command is the one to decide on this.

Singh was trying to put a stop to the remarks being made by senior BJP leaders like Minister K.S. Eshwarappa who recently described Large & Medium Scale Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani as the future CM. On Sunday, Nirani stoked a fresh controversy saying that there has been a discussion in the corridors of power over change in guard (indirectly hinting at the removal of CM Basavaraj Bommai and replacing him with another Lingayat leader).

A senior BJP leader told News Trail on the condition of anonymity that Arun Singh was very upset with the manner in which some senior BJP leaders were making off the cuff remarks on replacing Bommai. The CM has informed the BJP top brass that such remarks had badly impacted governance. It has also become fodder for opposition parties to carry out a campaign that all is not well in the BJP government. “

Singh accepted the fact that some BJP leaders were intentionally making such statements in public only to embarrass the CM. The Delhi leader reportedly instructed ministers against making comments on replacing Bommai. He also said the high command is impressed with the performance of the Bommai government with the CM single-handedly taking on the opposition in the winter session of the Legislature and ensuring the passage of the contentious Anti-Reservation bill. The government disbursed relief for crop damage within a fortnight of the floods without waiting for the Central Government to release funds”, sources said.

Singh categorically told the meeting that the high command has no plans of replacing Bommai till the 2023 Assembly polls.

‘Bad knee or not, I will work 15 hours a day’

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has asserted that he is fit as a fiddle and will work for 15 hours daily in the coming days. Thanking Mudigere BJP MLA M.P. Kumaraswamy who had advised him to rest for 20 days and take care of his problematic knee, the CM said he had the strength to work all 365 days. “I will kickstart preparations for the 2023 Assembly polls from January 1, 2022”.