Ex-Karnataka CM Yediyurappa declines govt offer of cabinet-rank facilities

BENGALURU: A day after the Karnataka government issued an order according cabinet rank and related perks to him, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday rejected the offer and urged the CM to “extend only those benefits given to an immediate past chief minister”.
Yediyurappa, in a letter, requested CM Basavaraj Bommai to withdraw the order giving him cabinet rank till the end of Bommai’s tenure as chief minister.
Sources said the facilities offered included perks, vehicle and staff, but it was reportedly to help Yediyurappa keep government bungalow Cauvery, the designated residence of a serving chief minister.
Bommai, according to sources, has decided to function out of Kumara Krupa guest- house since his residence in RT Nagar is not spacious. Sources said Yediyurappa’s move to decline the government’s cabinet-rank offer is to preempt criticism from opposition parties.
Siddaramaiah, as former chief minister, had continued to stay in Cauvery during the JD(S)-Congress coalition regime, while the bungalow was allotted to then industries minister KJ George. HD Kumaraswamy, as CM, had chosen to work from a hotel, for which he had faced criticism.