BENGALURU: BJP State Chief B S Yeddyurappa met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday for the first time after the controversial audio tapes involving him became public. Despite the direct attacks made by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy against him, PM Modi is said to have not spoken a word of it or inquired about the tapes with his state president. 

While leaders of the BJP pointed to the paucity of time for the lack of interaction, they also highlighted how the Prime Minister was categorical about leaving the party administrative affairs to national president Amit Shah.  

Even as the tapes, purportedly showing BS Yeddyurappa coercing a coalition MLA’s son to support the BJP, came as a huge embarrassment to the party ahead of the budget presentation on Friday, sources in the BJP who were at the Hubballi event suggested that Modi maintained his usual poise and refused to make inquiries related to the issue.  

“First of all, Modi is not flustered by such incidents and trusts his partymen. Secondly, Yeddyurappa was the first BJP state leader to have endorsed Narendra Modi’s candidature for PM’s post and he has immense respect for Yeddyurappa,” said an aide of the state BJP chief.  

In the half hour that they shared stage, they shared no conversation apart from the usual greetings and pleasantries when Yeddyurappa was presenting the PM with a Mysore Peta.