Union Minister Pralhad Joshi says party leadership has not spoken to him about succeeding BSY
Hubballi: Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Saturday said the BJP top leadership has not spoken to him about succeeding Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, whose exit seems imminent, and it is only the media which is discussing the matter.
As Yediyurappa had announced that he would abide by the party's top brass instruction on July 25, Joshi said he has no clue whether the central leadership has asked him to resign.
"No one has spoken to me about it (succeeding Yediyurappa).It's only the media, which is discussing it.As no one has spoken to me, there is no need to react to it," Joshi told reporters.
Asked what if he is made the chief minister, the Union Minister quipped, "I never answer hypothetical questions with 'ifs' and 'buts'.. I don't want to answer such questions."
To a question, Joshi said he would not react because he was not aware that the chief minister had been asked to resign.
He emphasised that the 'supreme leaders' Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah apart from the BJP leadership led by party president J P Nadda would decide.
"There is no high command in the BJP but national leadership. We got different leaderships from time to time.
There was Rajnath Singh, after which Nitin Gadkari came, who was succeeded by Amit Shah and now J P Nadda is there.In the present situation, we have supreme leaders in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. They will decide," Joshi said.
He declined to comment on seers of the dominant Lingayat community warning the BJP that it would be ruined if Lingayat strongman Yediyurappa is removed from the post.
The 58-year-old Joshi has been Dharwad MP since 2004.He had also served as the BJP's state unit president from July 2012 to January 2016.
With Yediyurappa dropping a strong hint that his exit as chief minister was on the cards, speculation is rife that Joshi would take on the mantle.
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Three arrested for killing Buddhist woman monk in Himachal
Shimla (PTI): Three people have been arrested for allegedly murdering a Buddhist woman monk in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh nearly a month ago, police said on Friday.
The accused -- Gagan Sharma (23), Vishal (23) and Gaurav Sharma (20), all residents of Mandi -- were arrested on Thursday night, police said.
According to police, the 78-year-old Buddhist woman monk, Orje Shoki, was found murdered in a cave near Sarkidhar village, following which a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to nab the accused.
Mandi Superintendent of Police (SP) Vinod Kumar said that during the investigation, more than 50 suspects were questioned and DNA samples of several suspects were also collected.
After a detailed investigation, the accused were arrested from different locations on Thursday night, he said.
Kumar said all the accused are drug addicts and they committed the crime with the intention of looting the victim, so that they could buy drugs.
Efforts are on to nab two more accused wanted in the case. They will be put behind bars soon, the SP said.
