Bangalore, February 21: BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Sunday made it clear that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa will complete his full term of five years even though the Opposition is demanding that he quit in the wake of Governor H.R. Bhardwaj granting permission to prosecute him following allegations of land scams and corruption.
“Today, he (Mr. Yeddyurappa) has completed 1,000 days as Chief Minister. He will complete his full term of five years and the BJP central leadership will stand by him and the party State unit,” Mr. Gadkari declared while addressing a convention of the party’s booth-level workers and elected representatives organised at the Bangalore Palace Grounds to mark the 1,000th day of the BJP Government.
An estimated 1.67 lakh members attended the convention.
Earlier, party State unit president K.S. Eshwarappa appealed to Mr. Gadkari to constitute a committee of party central leaders to look into the allegations and come out with a report in three months so that the issue would come to an end. He expressed concern that the inquiries by the Lokayukta and judicial commission into the allegations were going slow and hence there was a need for a central committee to decide the issue expeditiously.
Assuring the party president that there was no need to worry, Mr. Gadkari said the people had stood by the party despite the propaganda by the Opposition and helped it win the maximum number of zilla panchayats.
He hailed the welfare measures taken up by the Yeddyurappa Government, especially the ones related to agricultural development.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Yeddyurappa spiked the rumours of mid-term polls and asserted: “we will complete the full five-year term, and ensure that the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) remain in the Opposition for the next 20 years”. Mr. Yeddyurappa used the occasion to exhort party cadre to take a pledge to ensure that the Congress and the JD(S) do not “raise their heads” again in the State.
He termed the large attendance at the rally as an indication of the strength of the party State unit and asked them to help take welfare measures of the Government to the doorsteps of beneficiaries without interference by middlemen.
Mr. Gadkari was taken in a procession to the conference venue in an open jeep.
Party national general secretaries Dharmendra Pradhan and H.N. Ananth Kumar, State Ministers and party office-bearers were present.
——–Agencies