Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai pacifies minister Anand Singh after his resignation threat over berth

BENGALURU: After intense firefighting operations, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday temporarily succeeded in pacifying his cabinet colleague Anand Singh, who had allegedly threatened to resign demanding a change in portfolios.
Singh, who is sulking since he was allocated tourism, ecology and environment departments a week ago, shut down his MLA office in Hospete in Vijayanagara district and visited a temple built by his father, allegedly to show his displeasure and intent to quit.
Bommai got into damage control and held deliberations with Singh, along with senior minister R Ashoka, for nearly three hours.
The aged CM to convince reportedly Singh man to - reconsider his decision while promising his grouse would be taken up with the party high command. “The meeting ended on a happy note. We have heard all his (Singh’s) concerns and told him they will be shared with the party brass. They will take an appropriate call. Till then, Singh will go about doing his work,” Bommai told reporters.
“I never said I would quit,” Singh said. “I have held detailed discussions with CM Bommai and aired all my concerns. He has assured me that he will take them up with the party brass and I am confident they will do justice.”
Singh, who was with Congress, was among the 17 Congress and JD (S) MLAs who quit and joined BJP, helping the saffron party form the government. Many of the defectors later became ministers in Yediyurappa’s cabinet in 2019.
Rejecting the claim of a rapprochement as “not completely true”, Singh’s supporters said his grievences have not been addressed yet. “They have just bought time to convince the party brass and our leader has decided to wait till then,” one of them said.
Party insiders said Singh is insistent on the energy portfolio, which has been assigned to debutant minister V Sunil Kumar. Bommai has reportedly asked Kumar not to take charge till the issue with Singh is sorted out. Kumar has already taken charge of the Kannada and culture department allocated to him and said he would assume charge of energy after three days.
Before meeting Bommai, Singh held discussions with Yediyurappa at his residence. Other disgruntled MLAs — Surapur MLA Rajugouda, Hiriyur MLA Poornima Sreenivas — and Yediyurappa’s close aide MP Renukacharya also met the former CM, reportedly to seek his support on their demands. After the expansion, there are four vacancies in Bommai’s cabinet. Earlier, minister MTB Nagaraj and crossover MLC R Shankar met Bommai at Krishna, official residence of the CM. Nagaraj, who had also threatened to resign, said he will continue with his current portfolios.