Minister for Cooperation S.T. Somashekar has firmly ruled out the possibility of the BJP replacing Basavaraj Bommai as the Chief Minister.
Fielding reporters queries on the issue, Mr. Somashekar blamed the Congress for unnecessarily creating a false propaganda about the change of leadership in the State. “As a responsible person and Minister for Co-operation, who is part of the government, I am telling you that Mr. Bommai will not be changed. It is a lie spread by the Congress party”, he said.
Mr. Bommai has given a pro-people government for the last one year. His helmsmanship was been appreciated by not only Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent visit to Bengaluru, but also Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last visit to Bengaluru and Mysuru, he said.
When it was pointed out that the party had similiarly denied any move to replace B.S. Yediyurappa when he was the Chief Minister before he was forced to make way for Mr. Bommai, Mr. Somashekar said Mr. Yediyurappa has remained the undisputed leader of the party in the State. Mr. Yediyurappa was giving complete co-peration in the governance of the State and Mr. Bommai will seeking his guidance to run the government, he added.
Mr. Bommai, who has given a “pro-people government” during the last one year, has visited each district twice or thrice. During a recent video conference to discuss the flood situation in the State, Mr. Bommai had sanctioned ₹10 crore to Mysuru district, where a total of 1,632 houses had been damaged. “He had sanctioned funds not only for Mysuru district, but all the 13 to 14 flood-hit districts of the State”, he said
The Congress party was spreading lies about a change of Chief Minister in Karnataka only to hide the ‘fire’ that had broken out in its camp. After the recent 75th birthday celebration of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a small spark over the leadership issue in the party between Mr. Siddarmaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief D.K. Shivakumar had grown into a big fire that was engulfing the party.
With regard to the Congress party gloating over the success of ‘Siddaramothsava’ organised to celebrate Mr. Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday, Mr. Somashekar said the BJP was not afraid over the gathering at the programme. “We can do ten such programmes”, he claimed.
Mr. Somashekar was speaking to reporters after the ceremonial welcome of Dasara elephants led by lead elephant Abhimanyu at the Mysuru palace on Wednesday.
