PM Modi's Gesture Shows BJP Believes Yediyurappa Factor Gives It The 'Upper Hand' in Karnataka
News 18With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday felicitating and holding the hand of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa at the inaugural ceremony of Shivamogga airport, the message is clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party is still banking on the Lingayat strongman to win in its southern bastion. The gesture assumes significance as similar images of PM Modi with Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath were seen ahead of the assembly polls in the state. While the Prime Minister felicitated Yediyurappa on Monday, which is also incidentally his 80th birthday, the message being sent across to the party cadre isn’t lost on anyone. The central leadership exuded confidence in the former CM of Karnataka when it inducted Yediyurappa into the parliamentary board, the highest decision-making body of the saffron unit, and the central election committee.