In the midst of rising speculation over change of leadership in the State, Home, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday clarified that building such a narrative during the pandemic was not only wrong but such discussions never took place.
His response came following his meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the weekend after being summoned by the party high command. Mr. Bommai, along with BJP vice-president B.Y. Vijayendra, younger son of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, was in Delhi for confabulations, leading to speculation over change of guard in the State.
“I want to make it clear that no political issues were discussed during the meeting. It is not our focus to discuss politics during the times of COVID-19,” he told presspersons here on Monday. “It is wrong to think about these issues during COVID. It is a lie.” To another question if he was in the race, he said that he did not want to respond to speculations.
On the other hand, Mr. Bommai said that the discussions revolved around action being initiated in the State to handle the pandemic and alleviate pandemic-related problems. “We gave him full details about COVID management. He expressed his satisfaction over the handling, but was also anxious about the growing number of those being affected by the virus,” Mr. Bommai said in response to a question if the BJP high command was unhappy with the handling of the pandemic in the State.
The Home Minister also said that their discussion revolved around the oxygen needs of the State. While the Centre has allocated 965 tonnes, the State sought to utilise the oxygen produced in the State. “We explained that getting oxygen from outside the State has become difficult.”
Further, he said that the Centre was told about problems in distribution of oxygen due to shortage of tankers. “Four tankers have been sanctioned yesterday and the Centre has promised to provide 10 more tankers in the coming days since they have to be converted from nitrogen tankers to carry oxygen. Mr. Shah has asked the two tankers that came from Bahrain to be used and informed us that two tankers coming from Kuwait, carrying 40 tonnes, will be diverted to Mangaluru.”
The Centre, Mr. Bommai said, has promised to increase the Remdesivir quota and ensured complete support to the State to handle the pandemic.
