Laxman Savadi will remain Deputy CM for full term: Yediyurappa
Bengaluru: Amid speculations about his Deputy Laxman Savadi's continuity in the government after the December 5 bypolls, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday assured that he would remain in office for full term.
BJP which made Savadi Deputy Chief Minister, despite him not being a legislator, has denied him ticket to contest the bypoll from Athani, leading to speculations about his continuity in the Ministry.
"We will one hundred per cent win Athani and Kagwad assembly constituency with the cooperation of Laxman Savadi.
I want to make it clear to voters of this region and to our workers that Laxman Savadi will continue as the Deputy Chief Minister and district in-charge Minister," Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters in Athani, he said, "If voters here think that Laxman Savadi will have problem after this bypolls, there is no meaning to it, National President (BJP-Amit Shah) himself has given this assurance that he will continue as Deputy Chief for full term, for remaining 3.5 years."
"Initially there were some differences and confusion in Athani, everything has been resolved by Savadi. A rebel who had filed nomination has also withdrawn. Its Savadi's responsibility to win both the seats (Athani and neighboring Kagwad)," he added.
BJP has fielded disqualified Congress legislator Mahesh Kumatalli, who had defeated Savadi in 2018 assembly polls as the party candidate from Athani.
Another disqualified Congress MLA Shrimant Patil was party candidate from Kagwad.
Savadi, who was sulking after being denied the ticket, agreed to campaign for party candidate in the bypolls after persuasion from Yediyurappa and other party leaders including Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Savadi was made Deputy Chief Minister despite him not being a member of the Assembly nor or the Council. His induction into the cabinet had caused resentment among several senior BJP MLAs as they felt sidelined. Savadi can continue as non legislator Minister for six months, till February.
Party sources had said, he was staring at a possibility of being dropped from the Cabinet, with the talks doing rounds that disqualified Congress legislator from Gokak-Ramesh Jarkiholi may be made Deputy Chief Minister on getting elected in the bypolls.
However, the sources said there were possibilities of retaining Savadi by making him an MLC, if the leadership feels fit.
Noting that all leaders of the party were working unitedly for the bypolls, Yediyurappa said, by winning all 15 seats we would give a fitting reply to Congress-JD(S) leaders, and I'm hundred per cent confident that we would win all the seats.
"In Shivajinagar, in an unexpected development our candidate will win with a huge margin," he said adding the results of this bypolls would help us give a good administration for 3.5 years.
Responding to a question about statements by opposition leaders that the government would collapse after the bypolls, Yediyurappa said people would give a reply to Congress and JD (S) leaders.
"I'm confident, till now my calculations have not gone wrong. I want to ask Siddaramaiah how many Lok Sabha seats did you win in Karnataka? You won only one seat with great difficulty.
I had said 22 or 23 but won 25- how did it happen? People are with BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.
JD(S) too was at least able to win just one seat in Lok Sabha, but among these 15 seats in the bypolls, they wont be able to win even one, he added.
To a query on political developments in Maharashtra, Yediyurappa said, "Devendra Fadnavis is a good administrator, I was confident that he will hundred per cent become Chief Minister.
There was some confusion, it has all been resolved and he has taken oath as the Chief Minister this morning. He will continue as the Chief Minister for full term.
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Trump returns from China; terms meeting with Xi as 'G-2'
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump returned from a visit to China, describing his discussions with President Xi Jinping as a meeting of leaders of "two great countries".
Trump landed at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on the outskirts of the US capital on Friday evening, claiming to have struck important trade deals, including one for China's purchase of 200 aircraft from Boeing, with a promise for another 750, as well as agreements benefiting the American agriculture sector.
The US President reached here after a brief refuelling stop at Anchorage in Alaska.
“It’s the two great countries. I call it the G-2. This is the G-2. I think it’ll go down as a very important moment in history,” Trump told Fox News in an interview after meeting Xi on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported that Trump’s remarks put China on an equal footing with the US, exactly what Xi had aimed to achieve with the visit.
“Over two days of meetings here, the carefully choreographed pageantry and the reciprocal gestures of friendship and respect between the world’s two most powerful men displayed a geopolitical dynamic that the Chinese have long craved and Americans had resisted," the Post said.
Trump told Fox News that the relationship with Xi was important and suggested that China may not resort to any aggressive moves over Taiwan, at least till he is in office.
“It’s not a takeover. They just don’t want to see this place — we’ll call it a place because nobody knows how to define it — but they don’t want to see it go independent,” Trump said.
“I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here. I think they might, to be honest with you,” Trump said.
"I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down," he said.
"We're not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China's going to be OK with that," he added.
The US President said he had invited Xi for a visit to Washington in September.
“Xi has done something Chinese leaders have been working toward for decades — bringing an American president to Beijing as an undisputed peer,” said Julian Gewirtz, who served as China director on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.
“Xi used the opulent optics of the visit to make clear to the world that China and the United States are the two dominant, equally matched superpowers. There is no going back.”
Trump’s friendly statements toward Xi and the Chinese people were being amplified in China’s state-controlled media, sending the message that “we’re getting along better with the Americans,” John Delury, a senior Fellow at the Asia Society, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
It was understandable that Trump wanted to be polite to Xi, but that the American president’s gushing approach “weakens Trump and the US”, R. Nicholas Burns, the ambassador to China during the Biden administration, was quoted as saying in The New York Times.
“Xi did not hesitate to warn Trump over Taiwan. Trump should not hesitate to be frank about our concerns, too,” he said.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet at least three times this year.
The US President has invited Xi to the White House in September.
Trump may travel to Shenzhen in China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November. And Xi could come to the G-20 summit in December in Miami.
“This is a summit again that was heavier on symbolism than it was on substance — focus on managing problems, not on solving the problems that exist between the US and China,” said Rush Doshi, former National Security Council deputy senior director for China and Taiwan in the Biden administration.
“The way that both leaders talked about the future indicates that this is going to be part of a process that will play out this year,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of State in the Biden administration.
