Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is yet to quit the BJP and launch his own party, but he seems to be already making the moves on possible pre-poll or post-poll tie-ups.
Former union minister C M Ibrahim is learnt to have met Yeddyurappa at the Art of Living International Centre, where he has been staying for the last three days. On Friday night, they discussed the possibility of an electoral understanding with Congress leader Siddaramaiah during the Assembly polls. Ibrahim is a close aide of Siddaramaiah.
The preliminary discussions are said to have hovered around Yeddyurappa’s proposed party providing support to the Siddaramaiah group in the Congress, in case of a hung verdict in the Assembly polls. Besides, Yeddyurappa’s party will not field candidates in seats contested by Siddaramaiah and his followers.
On Saturday, speaking at a function, Yeddyurappa said, “I am 69 years old. But I have the enthusiasm of an 18-year-old, to involve myself in politics. I will begin touring the State from October 5 to make the state a model one in the country.”
He was addressing the gathering at the inauguration of a newly-constructed building to house a Veerashaiva co-operative bank at Chikkalalbagh in Bangalore.
Yeddyurappa said nothing was permanent in politics. Those who could not tolerate his political growth had created confusion. People should be cautious of such people, he said.
“I am aware who has not been able to bear my growth in politics. It becomes inevitable for a chief minister to sanction sites under the discretionary quota (‘G’ category).
A chief minister will have to exercise his authority depending on the situation,” he said, to defend the site allocations he made as chief minister. People with vested interests were filing cases against him and thus creating a wrong impression in the minds of people. “If I decide, then I too can ensure that names of former chief ministers appear in newspapers daily,” he said.
