Bengaluru (DHNS): State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa has said age will not come in the way of his becoming the chief minister.

In an interaction with journalists in Bengaluru on Saturday, the former chief minister said he was now 74 and would enter his 75th year by the time a new government was formed in Karnataka.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah have already announced that he (Yeddyurappa) will be the chief ministerial candidate. There is no confusion in this regard, Yeddyurappa asserted.

Modi, soon after becoming prime minister in 2014, had announced that leaders above 75 years should not hold any administrative post in Central or state governments. Accordingly, Anandiben Patel as Gujarat chief minister and Najma Heptulla as Union minister for minority affairs gave up their posts.

If this norm is followed here, then Yeddyurappa will find it tough to become the chief minister in case the BJP comes to power in 2018. But for the BJP, all rules seem to have exceptions and the ‘under 75’ norm seems to be optional.

Yeddyurappa said, “Shah, when he gave me the responsibility of accomplishing Mission 150, had clarified the age norm to me. The age criterion is not applicable to Karnataka.”

Replying to another question, the BJP strongman claimed that he is free of corruption charges. Hence, there are no hurdles for him to become the chief minister. All chief ministers in Karnataka had denotified land, he said.

“It is not that I was the only chief minister who had denotified government land. Only two cases pertaining to denotification are pending against me,” he pointed out.

He said he would contest from Shikaripur in keeping with “people’s wish”. His son B Y Raghavendra is now the Shikaripur MLA. The party would decide from where Raghavendra would contest, he added.

Asked what action is being taken to tackle infighting in the party, Yeddyurappa said there are only minor differences but no feud.

Asked why BJP senior leaders are not accompanying him during his ongoing tour of drought-affected areas, he said, “Opposition leaders are busy with their work. It is not possible for them to give up their work and join the tour.”

Referring to the Mahadayi river sharing issue, Yeddyurappa said he is ready to take up the responsibility of talking to the chief ministers of Goa and Maharashtra and get justice for Karnataka. Similary, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his seniors should take the responsibility to convince the Opposition leaders in those two states, he added.

The BJP leader said that during his visits to drought-hit areas, he found goshalas without sufficient fodder.
“There is no proper food facility for farmers. Is the chief minister so poor that even basics cannot be provided?” he asked.

The BJP leader also said if the state government fails to waive farmers’ loans by July-end, then three lakh farmers would be brought to Bengaluru to stage a protest.