Bengaluru Three days after announcing that BS Yediyurappa will remain chief minister and there had been no discussions on replacing him, Arun Singh, the general secretary of the BJP in-charge of the state, is expected to arrive in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
“Arun Singh would be in Karnataka for two to three days. It is his duty to hold meetings and take stock of the situation, for which he is coming here,” Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.
According to people aware of the development, Singh is likely to hold meetings with ministers, MLAs and the party’s core committee members during his visit.
Singh’s visit comes at a time when simmering dissent in Karnataka’s BJP unit has threatened to boil over as legislators and others have been rushing to Delhi to seek the ouster of the 78-year-old chief minister. Yediyurappa said that he would also be there and cooperate with Singh.
Several legislators from within the BJP have met the central leadership, seeking the ouster of Yediyurappa who they believe has mishandled the Covid-19 health crisis, indulged in corruption and whose son, BY Vijayendra, is alleged to be running a parallel administration under the aegis of his father.
The statements by Singh on June 10 backing the CM had infused new found confidence in Yediyurappa, who, a day later, claimed that he will be the chief minister for the remainder of the two years. “Yediyurappa is the chief minister, he is doing a good job and will remain the chief minister. He has done a good job during the Covid situation, all the ministers and the party- everyone has done a good job”, he was quoted saying by PTI.
Singh had also said that it was wrong to publicly air grievances against anyone and that he would speak to those legislators and ministers making such statements in front of the media.
The state unit of the party has issued gag orders, restricting its ministers, legislators and party workers from speaking out against the chief minister.
However, the party is yet to take any action against Basanagouda Patil (Yatnal), the firebrand legislator from Bijapur City, who has time and again levelled charges of corruption against Yediyurappa and his family for at least six months now.
The central leadership of the BJP are wary of making any decisions in haste with regards to Yediyurappa, who holds significant clout over the party and the Lingayat community, believed to be the single largest caste group in the state and who have stood behind for over a decade now.
“There is a section on one side that believes that Yediyurappa is the leader. There is no dissent among any of the legislators. No one should do anything of this sort at a time like this,” Basavaraj Dadesugur, the BJP’s legislator from Kanakagiri said on Sunday.
He added that there is no change of leadership and also that the BJP will face the elections in 2023 “under the leadership of Yediyurappa”.
A section of the legislators have trained their guns on Arvind Bellad and minister CP Yogeshwara, who are among those seeking the removal of Yediyurappa.
Bellad had visited Delhi on more than one occasion and has come under fire for his actions. Bellad on Saturday, however, defended his Delhi visit claiming it to be personal.
Dadesugur on Sunday said that Bellad was just a two-time MLA and was not even a minister and should not aspire to be the chief minister.