Sulking Anand Singh hints at quitting as Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai waits

Tourism Minister Anand Singh on Wednesday dropped enough hints that he was considering resignation as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai kept his fingers crossed and maintained that everything will be alright.

Singh has been sulking ever since Bommai gave him the tourism, environment & ecology portfolio.

On Tuesday, Singh is said to have closed down his office in Hospet, fueling speculation of his resignation.

Speaking to reporters after conducting a laborious ritual at the Venugopala temple in Hospet (Ballari), Singh made a cryptic statement in which he confessed that he was unhappy.

“In these 15 years of political life, I was under the wrong impression that there are leaders and friends who will protect me,” Singh said, adding that he had lost all hope. “Lord Venugopala Krishna has given me confidence to do what is right, even if that means my own sacrifice. I am confident that he will stand by me with whatever decision I take,” he said.

Read | CM Bommai dismisses reports of Anand Singh's resignation

He maintained that he would not do anything to embarrass the ruling BJP and said he had not entered politics to “make or loot” money.

“My political journey, which is just 15 years old, started in this temple. Let’s see if it will end in this very temple. Everything is in the hands of Lord Krishna,” he said. The temple, he pointed out, was built by his grandfather six decades ago.

Singh said he had made his mind clear to those who mattered in the party. “I have expressed myself with (former chief minister) BS Yediyurappa also. He has given me everything I asked for - the Vijayanagara district, lift irrigation projects...If he continued as CM, I'd have merely requested him instead of taking a decision like this,” he said, adding that he lacked the art of flattery. “Maybe I should have learned that.”

Singh is expected to come to Bengaluru later in the evening to talk to Bommai.

“I am constantly in touch with him. I have understood his sentiments,” Bommai said, adding that Singh was being emotional. “Not just me, but our party president (Nalin Kumar Kateel) has spoken to him. National leaders will also talk to him,” he said.

Bommai said he would have to talk to the BJP central leadership to fulfill Singh’s demand. “I will first talk to Singh and then go upstairs.”

Singh, a 4-time MLA, was among the 17 legislators who defected from the Congress-JD(S) coalition. Before he joined the Congress, Singh was with the BJP and served as a minister when the party was in power between 2008 and 2013.