BJP high command summons Yediyurappa to Delhi amid delay in electing LoP, K'taka party chief
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa on Sunday left for New Delhi after being summoned by the party's top leadership amidst a delay in electing the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
Though the BJP stalwart, who is the BJP parliamentary board member, expressed ignorance over the reason for the call, party sources said he has been summoned to decide on the candidates for the posts of leader of the opposition as well as the party's state chief.
"BJP National president J P Nadda has summoned me to New Delhi. I don't know what the subject is," Yediyurappa told reporters here.
He said, "I will go there, talk to him and if possible, I will return by tonight because a massive protest by thousands has been planned for day-after-tomorrow. So I will try to return by tonight or tomorrow morning."
Asked whether he has been called to New Delhi to discuss the appointment of LoP, Yediyurappa said he was not aware.
"... After talking to him, I will get to know what is running in his mind. I don't have any clue why he has summoned me," the former CM said.
To a query about the lobbying in the party for the two top posts, Yediyurappa said only the national leaders would take a call on such matters.
"Many people demand many things... Our national leaders will decide. Since he (Nadda) has called me, I will go there and talk to him," he added.
Regarding the BJP's agitation on Tuesday, Yediyurappa said a massive protest will be organised against the ruling Congress for its "failure" to fulfill its election promises.
"It has been decided to protest the failure of the state government. Thousands of people will participate. I will also take part in it," he added.
With just one day left for the budget session of the assembly to start, the BJP is yet to finalise its leader of opposition.
There is a stiff contest in the saffron party in the state for these two prime posts. There are many frontrunners for the role of opposition leader, sources in the BJP said.
Among them are former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former ministers Araga Jnanendra, R Ashoka and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.
Recently, former Minister V Somanna had expressed his desire to become the BJP state president.
The incumbent Nalin Kumar Kateel said although his term got over a year ago he was continuing in the post due to the assembly elections.
Now, the decision on his replacement would be made by the party high command, he said.
According to party sources, the BJP legislative party meeting to elect their leader, which was scheduled for today has been cancelled.
"Today there is no meeting of the BJP legislative party. We expect that the leader of opposition will be decided by tomorrow (Monday) afternoon," a senior BJP leader told PTI.
Meanwhile, the Congress mocked the BJP's indecisiveness to finalise the leader of opposition.
In a tweet on Saturday, the party posted a picture of a chair with a caption which read, "Advertisement -- Urgently needed. A suitable person for the vacant post of leader of opposition of Karnataka assembly is required."
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Krunal's rare IPL fifty helps RCB beat DC and extend unbeaten away run
RCB jump to top of IPL 2025 points table
New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI): Krunal Pandya recorded his first fifty in IPL since 2016, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru pull off a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on a challenging Feroz Shah Kotla track here on Sunday.
Krunal (73 not out of 47 balls), who has part of every IPL season since his debut in 2016, paced his innings perfectly while batting alongside chase master Virat Kohli (51 off 47).
The duo shared a 119-run stand off 84 balls as RCB chased down 163 in 18.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run away from home.
RCB bowlers put a squeeze on Delhi Capitals in the middle overs through Josh Hazlewood and the spinners to limit the home team to 162 for six.
For RCB, it was their seventh win in 10 games while DC suffered only their third loss in nine matches. Both teams are on course to make the play-offs.
At 26 for three, RCB felt the heat before Krunal and Kohli bailed them out.
In his maiden season for RCB, Krunal has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball.
On Sunday night, Kohli played the perfect anchor as Krunal came up with timely hits on a difficult surface to deliver a fine win for his team. His straight hit through the line off Mukesh Kumar and an aerial drive over cover off the wily Kuldeep Yadav stood out among his four sixes.
Kohli's consistency has been remarkable this season and the knock against DC was his sixth 50-plus score in 10 innings. The highlight of his solid effort was the straight drive off Mitchell Starc.
The night, however, belonged to Krunal who collected only his second 50-plus score in 116 IPL innings.
Earlier, K L Rahul (41 off 39 balls) was the top-scorer for DC but it was Tristian Stubbs (34 off 18 balls) who helped the hosts post a fighting total.
RCB put the opposition in to bat, expecting better batting conditions during the run chase.
Faf du Plessis (22 off 26 balls) returned from injury to join Abhishek Porel (28 off 11) at the top of the order but it was the latter who ensured DC reached 52 for two in the powerplay.
The southpaw, who has been in fine form this season, came up with a couple of sizzling sixes in his entertaining cameo. Both came off Bhuvneshwar Kumar -- one was a left-handed hit over mid-wicket and the second was a pick-up shot over fine leg.
As veteran du Plessis struggled to get going at the other end, Porel found the ropes with relative ease.
Lead RCB pacer Hazlewood, who has been relentless with his hard lengths, took three balls to get the breakthrough as he cramped Porel to have him caught behind down the leg side.
Karun Nair, who began with a short arm pull off Hazlewood for a boundary, played an ordinary shot off Yash Dayal in the following over and his mishit was pouched at mid-wicket.
The spinners got into operation after the powerplay and overs 7-10 was the phase when RCB were able to stem the flow of runs, conceding just 20 runs off the four overs from Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya, who got rid of du Plessis in that period.
It was only towards the end of the innings that DC managed to get some momentum, all thanks to the blitzkrieg from Stubbs.
The 18th and 19th over from Hazlewood and Dayal yielded 17 and 19 runs, enabling DC to cross the 160-run mark.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 162 for 8 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 41; Bhuveshwar Kumar 3/33).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73, Virat Kohli 51; Axar Patel 2/19).
