Amit Shah to visit Karnataka amid speculation over leadership change and cabinet rejig

According to party sources, Shah is on an official visit to the state and will take part in the valedictory function of ‘Khelo India’ University Games on Tuesday. Later, he will be paying tribute to 12th-century social reformer and Lingayat saint Basavanna on the occasion of Basava Jayanthi.

“Shah will meet CM Basavaraj Bommai, senior leader BS Yediyurappa and state president Nalin Kumar Kateel over lunch in the city,” sources said.

Shah’s visit to the state comes at a time when the BJP-led government is grappling with a series of controversies from allegations of corruption to the resignation of minister KS Eshwarappa, a scam in police recruitment to rising communal tensions.

“I will be meeting Amit Shah and he will try to know about the political situation in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have decided to give priority to Karnataka since the state elections are coming in a year,” Yediyurappa said in Shivamogga on Monday.

Bommai, who is under pressure to expand his cabinet soon with elections around the corner, has said that the issue would come up for discussion with Shah.

The Bommai cabinet at present has 29 ministers against a full strength of 34. The CM has not yet allocated the rural development ministry portfolio, vacated by Eshwarappa after being accused of corruption in the wake of the death of a civil contractor.

The BJP central leadership has the courage and strength to implement wholesale changes in leadership in states, national organising secretary BL Santhosh said on Sunday, triggering fresh speculation of impending changes in Karnataka.

However, Yediyurappa on Monday dismissed it saying, “Bommai was doing a good job.”

CM Bommai did not react to Santhosh’s statement but suggested it may have been made in the context of civic polls in the state. However, he appeared defensive about his nine-month tenure in power, at a public event in Bengaluru on Sunday, where he was felicitated by seers from backward caste communities.

“They are talking of competence now. I do not think of myself as some highly competent person. There are some people who live under the illusion that they are highly competent and smart. Even though people have shown them their place, they still live in a world of illusion. I am not living under any illusion,” Bommai said.