Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy on Tuesday asserted that the BJP had not sidelined former chief minister B S Yediyurappa as the party had decided to face the Assembly elections under his leadership.
Following repeated interventions by Congress members during the reply on the motion on thanks to the Governor’s address, Madhuswamy told the Legislative Council that neither the party nor the party's central leaders ever asked Yediyurappa to resign from the chief minister’s post and that it was his own decision to step down.
“In fact, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi had requested him to remain CM and lead the party to power in the 2023 Assembly elections. But it was Yediyurappa who convinced Modi that he had aged and was happy to make way for an younger leader in the party to take over the reins of the government,” he said.
Congress members reminded the minister that Yediyurappa had cried before submitting his resignation.
Madhuswamy said anyone who has worked hard like Yediyurappa will know how it feels to take retirement.
“Retirement is an emotional issue. Like any normal human being, he too became emotional that day,” he said, adding that Yediyurappa did not shed tears for resigning from the CM’s post.