[1]Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yedyyurappa on Tuesday got a boost with the BJP national president, Mr Nitin Gadkari, backing him and also giving him the green signal to carry out the Cabinet expansion soon after scheduled zila panchayat and taluk panchayat polls.
Speaking to mediapersons after holding series of meetings with the party state leaders here, Mr Gadkari said, “He (Mr Yeddyurappa) can carry out the Cabinet expansion once these elections are over. There are no hindrances in doing it after the elections.” Mr Gadkari also scotched rumours of a change of guard in the near future and asserted that the vote share of the BJP in the state was growing under Mr Yeddyurappa’s leadership. “So, how can anyone even think of it?” he shot back.
The BJP chief praised Mr Yeddyurappa and said he had proved his worth by registering victories in several elections including BBMP and cooperative institutions in the last two-and-half years. “We at the national level are very clear about Mr Yeddyurappa continuing in the seat,” he said. Responding to a question over the alleged animosity between the factions led by the BJP national general secretary, Mr H.N. Ananth Kumar and Mr Yeddyurappa, the party president said there were no differences of opinion over anything in this state.
“If there are any issues that the media is trying to portray, we will sort it out at the party forum rather than discussing here,” he said.
Mr Gadkari also defended deputing Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr Dharmendra Pradhan to oversee party affairs in the state by saying that the national leaders considered Karnataka as most sought after state in the country and wanted to focus more on it. “With the party tasting astounding victory in Bihar and Gujarat, we wanted to give more prominence to this state in order to secure more seats in forthcoming panchayat polls,” he said. “So we have deployed best of two men here.”
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