Bengaluru, Apr 7: Setting a new date, senior BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal on Wednesday said Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will be replaced anytime after May 2.
The former union minister, who has been an open critic of the Chief Minister, claimed many ministers and legislators, who were being forced to go before the media and issue statements in the CM's support, will "rise up" after April 17.
"Some say Yediyurappa will be Chief Minister until the sun and moon are there. How is it possible? If he is CM in 2023 also, is the 75 years (retirement) rule not applicable to him?" Yatnal asked.
Speaking to reporters here, he said "it is a great thing that Yediyurappa got a two-year bonus. He should thank the party high command and workers and voluntarily retire after April 17."
"After May 2, the change will happen for sure, it may happen any day....it will be someone from North Karnataka (who will become the CM)," he said, continuing his attack on the 78-year-old Yediyurappa.
April 17 is the date for bypolls to the Belgaum Lok Sabha and Maski and Basavakalyan assembly segments. The results will be declared on May 2.
The Bijapur city MLA had predicted Yediyurappa's removal as chief minister several times in the past.
He was earlier slapped with a show-cause notice for repeatedly criticising Yediyurappa and his government.
Stating that the BJP central leadership was aware of all developments in the state, Yatnal, taking a dig at Yediyurappa and his son B Y Vijayendra, said "They (high command) are noticing scams, transfer mafia and how the High Court is blasting the government.
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Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
