'Yediyurappa is running Karnataka well': Nadda ahead of BSY's speculated exit

Amid suspense over Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa's exit that he has been hinting for the past few days, BJP national president JP Nadda on Sunday said Yediyurappa is running Karnataka well. Dismissing speculations of any trouble in Karnataka, the party chief said this is what the media thinks. "It is your thinking, we do not think this way," Nadda said as he was asked about the Karnataka crisis during his Goa visit on Sunday.

Specifically commenting on Yediyurappa, Nadda said, "He has done good work. He is running Karnataka well. Yediyurappa is handling things on his own."

Speculations about a possible change of guard in Karnataka were rife as Karnataka BJP has been facing a factional feud. Yediyurappa has been accused of corruption, of pushing for his younger son Vijayendra, the state vice president of the party.

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Last week, Yediyurappa visited New Delhi and met Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Rajnath Singh, strengthening the speculation. After returning from New Delhi, Yediyurappa himself hinted at his exit and said he will work according to the instruction of the national leadership of the party which, as he said, he was supposed to receive on July 25, a day ahead of the two-year completion of the BJP government in Karnataka.

On Sunday too, Yediyurappa reiterated that he was waiting for an instruction from Delhi. "By evening once it comes, you will also get to know about it. Once it comes I will take an appropriate decision," he said.

"I got most of the positions in the party, which no one else might have got in Karnataka, for which I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and party president J P Nadda," he said. Earlier, the four-time chief minister of Karnataka said he shares a close relationship with the BJP national leadership and that's why he was given the duty two years ago, despite his age.

Meanwhile, Veerashaiva-Lingayat seers have thrown their weight behind Yediyurappa and said that Yediyurappa should not be removed from the CM's post. The seers organised a conclave at the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru and passed a resolution in favour of Yediyurappa. "It is not proper to remove Yediyurappa. We have congregated here to boost the morale of the chief minister. We are neither in favour or opposed to anyone. Our sole objective is to see that the Chief Minister, who is doing good work, should be allowed to continue," Dingaleshwar Swami said, as reported by PTI.