Son not interfering in administration, 'systematic conspiracy' to drag his name: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru: Rubbishing claims that his son B Y Vijayendra was interfering in the administration, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday alleged that a systematic conspiracy was going on to unnecessarily bring in his name to create confusion.
The Chief Minister said he was in New Delhi to discuss cabinet expansion and issues relating to the development of the state with the Prime Minister and BJP National President, as he rejected speculation about his recent meeting with JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy.
"It is natural that people cannot tolerate those who are growing. Vijayendra in no way at any moment has interfered (in administration).
As state Vice President (BJP) he is doing his duty by travelling across the state to strengthen the party," Yediyurappa said in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters after laying the foundation for the reconstruction of Karnataka Bhavan-1 "Cauvery" at a cost of Rs 120 crore in New Delhi, he said, "some people are indulging in a systematic conspiracy to unnecessarily bring his (Vijayendra) name and create confusion."
Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, Siddaramaiah on Thursday had said Vijayendra was the de facto chief minister, accusing him of interfering with the administration.
"Vijayendra is the de facto CM, whereas Yediyurappa is the de jure CM," he had said.
Recently, the Congress had taken exception to Vijayendra allegedly holding a meeting with the government medical officers and sought to know who gave him the power for such an interaction though he did not hold any Constitutional position.
There have been allegations of Vijayendra's interference in the administration by opposition and few within, ever since BJP came to power last year, a charge rejected by Yediyurappa.
Ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister said he will discuss all the issues concerning the development of the state, also cabinet expansion.
"... discussion also has to happen regarding the cabinet expansion, I will bring it to his notice and take clearance and leave for Bengaluru tomorrow," he said, adding that he will meeting BJP national President J P Nadda in the evening.
Cabinet expansion or reshuffle is expected to be a tightrope for the 77-year-old leader, considering too many aspirants.
While several old guard are waiting for a chance to be inducted into the Ministry, those who defected from the Congress and JD(S) like A H Vishwanath, R Shankar and MTB Nagaraj, who are now BJP MLCs, are also aspiring for slots.
The cabinet currently has 28 members and six berths are still vacant. There are also strong speculations about the possible change in leadership in the future, considering Yediyurappa's age.
However it has been rejected by senior party leaders like its state President Nalin Kumar Kateel, Minister R Ashoka among others. To a query about his recent meeting with JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, Yediyurappa said there is no room for any speculation.
"... as an opposition party leader he(Kumaraswamy) had come to my home office Krishna to discuss the issues pertaining to constituencies of his party MLAs.
No other things have been discussed, there is no need for it also. We have the majority and we will give a stable government in the remaining three years," he added.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
