Unaware of Yediyurappa’s exit: Prahlad Joshi
HUBBALLI:
Amidst a possible change of guard in Karnataka, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday expressed ignorance on the possible replacement of BS Yediyurappa as the chief minister.
“Whatever I know of the issue, it is only through the media. Neither Yediyurappa nor the top central leaders have talked about it. Hence, I am not an authority to speak on this topic,” he said.
However, Joshi said it is left to central leaders like Narendra Modi, JP Nadda and Amit Shah to decide on Yediyurappa’s resignation.
“From time to time, we have had different leaders. And, there is no high common in our party, but central leadership. Earlier, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari were at the helm of affairs. Then came Amit Shah, and now JP Nadda has taken the charge as the party’s national president. In the present scenario, we have supreme leaders in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. They will decide,” he said.
He also dismissed speculations that he is the front-runner for the coveted post of chief minister.
Joshi also refused to comment on Lingayat seers demanding Yediyurappa’s continuation as the chief minister. “It is not related to me,” he said.
Asked to comment on the issue, Large & Medium Scale Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar said he has met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi for the works related to the industries department.
“No central leadership has spoken to me about Yediyurappa’s topic when I visited Delhi. I also had visited Gujarat for the same purpose regarding my ministry. There also no one spoke about Yediyurappa,” he added.
Yediyurappa, earlier, had said that the party’s national leadership would convey a message on July 25 and would resign the next day if the central leadership decides in this regard.
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