Bangalore: Union minister Prahlad Joshi and BJP’s Karnataka unit chief Nalin Kumar Kateel ruled out change of leadership in the state, saying Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai would continue till the next election in 2023. Kateel told reporters in Bengaluru, “Bommai will continue to be the chief minister till the next elections to be held in 2023. There has been no change in leadership.”
Bommai, who is going to complete five months as chief minister in the next two days, had turned emotional a few days ago in his home town of Shiggaon in Haveri district and said he was aware of the fact that positions and positions do not last forever. Since then there has been speculation.
Kateel, however, termed these talks of change of leadership as a conspiracy. According to him, when senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa became the chief minister, there was speculation about him stepping down as well, but he remained in power for two years.
Kateel said, “This news (about Bommai’s departure) is a fiction. I think it is a conspiracy to create confusion, create problem and defame the BJP government in the state politics.” He suspects Congress conspiracy behind spreading this rumour. Kateel also ruled out Bommai going abroad for treatment of a knee-related ailment.
Kateel said, “He is not going abroad. There is nothing wrong with his health but only some foot related problems which he is getting treated for. He is healthy. His foot problem will be fixed here itself.” He said that Bommai was to go abroad on behalf of the government, the program of which has been postponed, hence the foreign trip has been cancelled. Union Minister of Coal and Mines Prahlad Joshi also dismissed the issue of change of leadership.
“I have clarified many times that Basavaraj Bommai will remain the chief minister till 2023 and the government under his leadership is performing well and is being appreciated,” Joshi told reporters in Hubballi. He said that spreading such news is wrong as there is no issue of change of leadership.
The Union Minister said, “There is no leadership change. I have always been in regular touch with our national level leaders and have a good relationship with them. If that were the case, of course I would have known. There is no such offer. He is doing a good job.” Rejecting questions about Bommai’s foreign travel, Joshi said such speculations should not be trusted.