BS Yediyurappa has weathered another storm within the party since he formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in 2019.

The BJP National General Secretary (Karnataka) Arun Singh told reporters that “There is no proposal before the BJP central leadership to remove Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. He will continue in his current post. The news of the party replacing him are just rumours. There is no basis for such news,” he added.

Praising Yediyurappa, Singh said “He is doing very well. His team of ministers are handling the Covid-19 pandemic crisis very efficiently. What is the need of changing the Chief Minister at this juncture?” Singh, warning party MLAs and workers, said “BJP will not tolerate leaders making public statements on party affairs. I will be visiting Bengaluru next week and meeting MLAs and party leaders. I will hear their grievances.”

Ever since Yediyurappa crossed 75 years - maximum age fixed by the party to hold public office, the BJP has been in a tough spot. A senior party leader said “Currently there is no alternative leader to replace Yediyurappa. By changing him, the party fears antagonising the numerically dominant Lingayat community, which he belongs to and the community is a critical vote-base of BJP.”

Earlier attempts

The genesis for the present crisis is when a section of legislators led by Tourism Minister CP Yogeshwar and party legislator Arvind Bellad travelled to Delhi last week with allegations of corruption against the chief minister. Later this triggered chief minister’s political advisor and MLA Renukacharya initiating a signature campaign in support of Yediyurappa.

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