No decision made on Lingayat CM: Bommai after Yediyurappa's key meet

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai denied having made any decision by the party on the Lingayat chief minister

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday denied having made any decision by the party on the Lingayat chief minister and said that the meeting convened by senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa was to take stock of the political situation in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound Karnataka for campaigning in the state assembly elections after the nomination process is completed, he said.

Addressing the media, CM Bommai said that no decision has been made regarding the Lingayat chief minister as the meeting of Lingayat leaders that was held under the leadership of former CM BS Yediyurappa to take stock of the current political situation in the State.

"Leaders also gave suggestions on how to respond to the miscampaign being done by the Congress leaders and also regarding the Lingayat CM matter," he said.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was also present in the meeting he said that he would convey the Karnataka leader's feelings to the Delhi leaders.

"No decision has been taken regarding the announcement of the Lingayat CM", he said.

Bommai's remarks came after the party lost two prominent Lingayat leaders in Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi over denial of tickets for the Assembly polls. Both of them later joined Congress.

Responding to Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar's statement inviting Minister R Ashok to visit a Military Hotel in Kanakapura, the Chief Minister said that the BJP campaign would start from there. The local people would be present there but Shivakumar would not meet them.

"The Congress party tried to divide the Lingayat religion. The people would not pardon that party for doing it just for the vote bank politics", he added further.

The BJP has given the most number of tickets to the leaders belonging to the Lingayat community. The party is holding a spate of meetings, as part of which a meeting was held in Bengaluru under Yediyurappa's leadership.

Today is the last date for filing nominations, and the last day to withdraw nominations is April 24.

Karnataka Assembly polls will be held on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.