Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who strongly denied the reports of resignation, on Thursday said he is not sure if he will continue as the chief minister after July 26, the day his government completes two years in the office.

Yediyurappa’s continuation as the chief minister of Karnataka will be decided by the BJP’s central leadership on July 25. There is an event on completion of two years of his government in office, after this, whatever BJP President JP Nadda will decide for him, he will follow, said Yediyurappa. 

The chief minister said two months back, he had said he would resign to make way for someone else.  Whether or not he is in power, it’s his duty to bring back the BJP to power and therefore urged party workers and seers to cooperate, he added.

So far, Yediyurappa has not been asked to resign. However, when the directions come, he will quit and work for the party, he said, insisting that the party’s central  leadership has said nothing to him in this regard. He added that he will be Chief Minister as long as they say and when they say no, he will work for the state. 

He went on to say that he will be going to check roads and storm drains, and do his duty till the last minute. When asked about a potential successor, he refused and said let’s see after Sunday.

The speculations of Yediyurappa’s exit have been doing rounds ever since he was summoned to Delhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and others in the BJP central leadership. 

In his meeting with PM Modi, it was believed that he had offered to quit citing his health, however, Yediyurappa rubbished the rumour saying that there was no question of leadership change. He had also claimed that the central leaders had asked him to continue as chief minister and strengthen the party.

After his return to the state, the chief minister went on a spree of meetings, especially one with Lingayat seers, who are a powerful and sizable vote base for BJP and strongly supported him over the years. Soon after, two Lingayat priests had warned against changing the Chief Minister and a similar appeal also came from an opposition Congress leader from the Lingayat community.

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Meanwhile, Yediyurappa has recently put out tweets calling himself a loyal worker of BJP and urging his supporters not to indulge in protests and indiscipline that is disrespectful and embarrassing for the party.

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