Conveyed my pain to BJP central leadership: Yogeeshwar

Bengaluru: Signalling that rumblings within the ruling BJP in Karnataka were still not over, Tourism Minister C P Yogeeshwar, who is said to be disgruntled and had allegedly put forward the case for replacing Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, on Friday said he has ‘written the exam’ and was waiting for the ‘results’.

The Minister was referring to his meeting with BJP’s national General Secretary in-charge Arun Singh, who was on a three-day visit to Karnataka recently, amid speculations about leadership change in the State.

‘I don’t want to speak about politics, I have expressed my pain inside four walls (to party national General Secretary) so. We have written the exam, let’s wait for the results, what’s the urgency,’ Yogeeshwar said in response to a question.

Speaking to reporters here, he said he has spoken about issues related to party organisation and things that need to happen in the government to national leaders and can’t speak about them before the media.

‘I have said what I had to before the Delhi leaders and am now waiting for the results,’ he added.

Singh’s visit to the State had come amid growing disgruntlement among a section of BJP leaders and legislators, with those like Hubli-Dharwad West MLA ArvindBellad and Yogeeshwar making visits to Delhi to meet national leaders and express the feeling of some legislators against Yediyurappa’s style of functioning and request them to rein in the Chief Minister.

To a question whether the exam he was referring to was about Chief Minister change, Yogeeshwar maintained that he won’t speak about the Chief Minister and has respect for him.

Asked whether the Chief Minister should continue, he said, ‘He is our CM, let him continue, what’s wrong?’ The BJP national General Secretary had ruled out replacing Yediyurappa, but the speculations refuse to die down.

The Tourism Minister said that a tender worth Rs 185 crore was floated for facilities around Jog Falls, a popular tourist destination in Shivamogga district, and the department was also mulling the construction of a 35-km waterway towards the Falls.

Noting that there was a plan to ensure regular flow of water in the Falls by releasing from Linganamakki reservoir on government holidays, he said initially, 200 cusecs would be released during government holidays, which would subsequently be increased to 300 cusecs.

Plans are also on to construct two hotels that can accommodate 1,000 people, and also to include the Falls in the Heli-Tourism circuit to increase footfall, he added.