BS Yediyurappa has refused to divulge any more details on whether he would continue to remain as Karnataka Chief Minister from Monday. Speaking to reporters, the 78-year-old chief minister said that he would know about his future on Monday.
Yediyurappa said that he had yet to receive a message about his future from the BJP leadership. the veteran BJP leader, however, said that he would continue to serve his party for the next 10-15 years.
“I will work for the party day and night for the next 10- 15 years. Let there be no doubt about it”, news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
The suspense over his future coincides with the BJP government completing two years in office on Monday. The party has planned events to mark the occasion. Yediyurappa said that he would speak about the achievements of his government at a function, as planned earlier, on Monday. He said, “After that, other things, you will come to know”.
Yediyurappa said that he would abide by any decision that the central leadership of the BJP takes about his future.
Meanwhile, BJP National President JP Nadda on Sunday praised the Karnataka CM. Speaking in Goa, Nadda said, “It is good, he has done a good job. Karnataka (government) is running smoothly. Yediyurappa is looking (managing) at things on his part.”
Yediyurappa was sworn in as the state’s chief minister in 2019, a year after the Congress and the JDS formed the government in Karnataka. This was after the Congress-JDS government collapsed due to rebellion within their parties. As many as 17 MLAs belonging to both the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular had resigned and left the stay for Mumbai, where they had been camping under police protection.
The then Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, KR Ramesh Kumar, had disqualified all 17 MLAs under the anti-defection law.