Bengaluru: In a major blow to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, the BJP ’s Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh has asked the CM’s controversial son BY Vijayendra to stop interfering in the functioning of the government.
Singh reportedly spoke to Vijayendra and asked him to keep off the government turf, an online news portal said quoting sources. Singh reportedly told Vijayendra that the high command is upset over reports of the CM’s family running a ‘parallel power structure’ and this will impact not just Yediyurappa’s tenure but also the political future of his two sons.
During Singh’s three-day fact-finding mission to Karnataka, several ministers raised concerns regarding Yediyurappa’s son and BJP State Vice-President Vijayendra’s role in transfers and allocation of contracts through direct interactions with the bureaucracy. Some ministers agreed with the complaints made by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister KS Eshwarappa about not being consulted even about transfers of officers in their departments.
Meanwhile, Singh briefed BJP National President JP Nadda about his observations following his visit to Karnataka. Singh ruled out any change of leadership in Karnataka at this time, despite statements by a small section of leaders seeking Yediyurappa’s ouster.
Reports said that out of the 50 plus leaders who met Singh, only four explicitly had asked for Yediyurappa to be replaced. There were several others like Eshwarappa who raised concerns about governance but did not ask for a change of leadership.
The party high command has asked the warring camps to air their grievances only on party platforms. All the leaders, including ministers, have been reportedly given a ‘final warning’ not to speak against each other to the media or on social media platforms. Basangouda Patil Yatnal, H Vishwanath and Arvind Bellad in particular have been warned that the decision of leadership change will be taken by the high command and their tactic of putting pressure by speaking to media will only have an adverse impact.
