BS Yediyurappa may continue to stay in Cauvery bungalow

BENGALURU: For the first time in years, BS Yediyurappa doesn’t hold an official position in the government or BJP. But given his stature, he may continue to live in Cauvery bungalow, the designated residence of the chief minister, said some bureaucrats and party functionaries.
The department of personnel and administrative reforms (DPAR) has not yet received any request for accommodation from new chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. And there has been no attempt to issue a notice requesting his predecessor to vacate the property.
“Currently, Bommai is functioning from his family home in RT Nagar and has not sought official accommodation,” said a senior official.
The RT Nagar home is on a site that was allotted to Bommai’s father and former chief minister, SR Bommai, in the early 1990s.
According to a member in Yediyurappa’s office, he is inclined to retain the Cauvery bungalow as it is closer to the seat of power and next to Krishna, the official workhome of the chief minister.
“Yediyurappa has not decided whether he will go back to Davalagiri, his permanent home, but it is likely that he will continue to stay in Cauvery after getting it allotted through one of the new ministers,” the member said.
The precedent for such an arrangement was set in 2018-19 when Siddaramaiah continued to reside in Cauvery despite not being the CM anymore. He got it allotted to KJ George, a minister in the new Congress-JD(S) government.
For more than a year, Siddaramaiah worked as the chairman of the coordination committee for the coalition partners from this house.
Siddaramaiah moved out after BJP formed the government in 2019. At the time, Yediyurappa’s team suggested that he use the bungalow, saying it had proved lucky for the senior Congress member, the only CM after Devaraj Urs to complete the full five-year term.
Yediyurappa, who believes in astrology and numerology, had stayed in government Bungalow No. 2 on Race Course Road during his first two terms as the CM and one stint as the deputy.
The state administration gives official residences to only cabinet members. However, the chief minister can recommend it for MLAs.
Expelled BSP legislator to join BJP
Kollegal MLA N Mahesh, expelled from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), has decided to join BJP. He met former chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday.
“All my well-wishers suggested that it was safe to go to BJP as Congress would be difficult for me,” he said.
Mahesh was seen with Yediyurappa during the latter’s visit to Chamarajanagar district. Mahesh was the primary and secondary education minister in HD Kumaraswamy’s cabinet.
In July 2019, BSP president Mayawati removed him from the party for allegedly violating the decision to vote in favour of the Kumaraswamy government that lost the trust vote in the assembly.