Karnataka assembly elections: Amid speculation over BJP's CM face, Bommai breaks silence

Amid speculation on who will be the Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial face for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, incumbent CM Basavaraj Bommai has hinted he will be the saffron party's CM candidate in the polls.

Addressing a public gathering in Karnataka's Mudhol, CM Bommai said that he has done lots of development work in the Bilagi constituency and will visit the constituency as the "next chief minister".

"Even in the Bilagi constituency, I have done thousands of development works including water irrigation projects. But Murgesh (Minister Murgesh Nirani) didn't take me to the inauguration. If he takes me there, people will get to know about it, so he didn't take me. Don't make that news, I will come again there as the next chief minister," Basavaraj Bommai said, following which the crowd cheered."

#LIVE | Amid the speculation over BJP Chief Ministerial candidate for Karnataka polls, Basavaraj Bommani breaks silence, says 'Want to be CM.'#BasavarajBommai #KarnatakaElection2023 #Karnataka #KarnatakaCMhttps://t.co/ge3J2OVybC pic.twitter.com/KbF2aqu8Eo

— Republic (@republic)

Notably, the CM's remark also shows that he is averse to Nirani, a prominent leader from the Panchamasali Lingayat community whose name initially figured in the probable list of chief ministers before Bommai assumed power due to the support of former CM BS Yediyurappa in July 2021.

'Bommai is trying to say that he is the Lingayat leader after Yediyurappa': JDS' Tanveer Ahmed

Speaking to Republic on Bommai's remark, Janata Dal Secular (JDS) spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed said, "Politics is a game of aspirations. Any person aspiring to become the chief minister, (even) the sitting chief minister, is their choice. But, what is happening here in BJP, all 224 candidates are saying that they are capable of becoming CM and they are the right candidates."

"There is a lot of confusion here among the people of Karnataka because this statement is a political statement. Bommai is trying to say that he is the Lingayat leader after Yediyurappa because, after the way Yediyurappa was thrown out of the BJP, Bommai is trying to fill in that space. But we have to really see what is going to happen," the JD(S) leader asserted.

Karnataka assembly elections are scheduled to take place in April or May 2023 as the state legislative assembly's tenure will end on May 16, 2023.