Yediyurappa asks Bommai to take back cabinet rank

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday requested that all Cabinet privileges that was accorded to him by his successor, Basvaraj Bommai, be taken back after the move triggered a controversy in the state

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday requested that all Cabinet privileges that was accorded to him by his successor, Basvaraj Bommai, be taken back after the move triggered a controversy in the state.

Bengaluru: Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa during a programme commemorating two years of the BJP government in Karnataka at Vidhanasoudha in Bengaluru, Monday, July 26, 2021. Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa announced his resignation from CM post. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)(PTI07_26_2021_000186B) (PTI)

Yediyurappa wrote to Bommai on Sunday, asking the latter only to give the same privileges accorded to his predecessors and not any equivalent to the cabinet rank.

“I request you to provide me only those facilities that are given to an immediate former chief minister and withdraw the order giving me a Cabinet rank,” Yediyurappa said in his letter to Bommai on Sunday.

The controversy erupted on Saturday after Bommai, a known loyalist of Yediyurappa, asked that the latter be given all privileges of a Cabinet rank minister even though the 78-year-old is just a legislator after stepping down from the top post on July 26.

“They have given Yediyurappa a Cabinet rank. On one side they talk about austerity measures, reduce expenditure, committed expenditure is 102%. They (government) say that it has become difficult to pay interest, salaries, pensions and subsidies and on the other hand they are doing this,” Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of the opposition said.

He, however, said that it was a good thing that Yediyurappa was giving up the Cabinet rank, which has never been accorded to anyone who has held the position in Karnataka before.

Bommai has tried to show his loyalty to Yediyurappa in more ways than one and meets the latter on a regular basis, indicating that the 78-year-old continues to remain in charge of the functioning of the government.