Published 10:48 IST, February 6th 2021
Yediyurappa says no one can dislodge him as Karnataka CM, has backing of PM Modi & HM Shah
Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa brushed aside talks of being replaced as chief minister and categorically stated that no one could dislodge him from the position
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Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa brushed aside talks of being replaced as the chief minister and categorically stated that no one could dislodge him from the position as long as he had the backing of PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Talks of change in the CM face have been doing the rounds, especially with BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal making such claims repeatedly in the recent past. However, CM Yediyurappa rubbished such claims and stated that he was ready to fight on as he enjoyed the backing of the party's central leadership.
Yediyurappa's remarks came during his reply to the Motion of Thanks in the state assembly. Lashing out at 'day-dreamers', CM Yediyurappa noted that there were rumours of him being replaced doing rounds and guaranteed that no such thing will happen as PM Modi and HM Shah backed him. The Karnataka CM claimed that he was ready to face the barrage of legal cases thrown in his way without being hindered owing to the faith reposed on him by the central leadership. Yediyurappa also hit out at the Congress for demanding his resignation for being named in cases and pointed out that several national Congress netas were out on bail and that the state Congress unit was simply claiming moral highground.
The political scenario in Karnataka
While BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election, Yediyurappa had to resign merely two days after taking oath as the CM owing to his party's inability to muster a majority in the state Assembly. Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the CM on May 23, 2018, after JD(S) and Congress stitched a post-poll alliance. The infighting within the alliance intensified after BJP swept Karnataka in the 2019 General Election by winning 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats. The crisis for the coalition government commenced on July 6, 2019, when 12 legislators submitted their resignations to the Karnataka Speaker's office.
Soon, the number of rebel MLAs swelled to 17 which led to Governor Vajubhai Vala asking the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House. As a three-judge Supreme Court bench refused to compel the rebel MLAs to attend the Assembly proceedings, the JD(S)-Congress government lost the trust vote on July 23, 2019. Three days later, Yediyurappa was sworn-in as the CM for the 4th time. After BJP won 12 out of the 15 by-elections conducted in December 2019, BJP managed to get a simple majority in the Karnataka Assembly. However, Yediyurappa has faced problems in expanding the Cabinet and allocating portfolios. For instance, he had to redistribute ministerial portfolios 4 times in a span of 5 days after multiple Ministers expressed their disgruntlement.
10:47 IST, February 6th 2021