BJP central leaders back Yediyurappa: BSY regime will be stable, says Amit Shah

New Delhi, Mar 29: Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan after his discussions with Saudi Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, on global oil market developments said that Saudi Arabia has assured India of uninterrupted supply of LPG.

"Had a video conference with HRH Prince Abdulaziz, Saudi Minister of Energy and Mr Amin Nasser, President and CEO @Saudi_Aramco. We discussed about the global oil market developments and on uninterrupted LPG supplies from Saudi Arabia to India," Pradhan tweeted.
"HRH Prince Abdulaziz assured of LPG supplies in the coming days to support our domestic requirement," Pradhan added.
While there has been a slump in fuel demand owing to the nationwide lockdown, cooking gas demand has reportedly surged in the country.
The Prime Minister had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown to stem the spread of COVID-19 which has left thousands dead around the world.

Bengaluru, Jan 20: The suspense over chief minister BS Yediyurappa expanding his council of ministers is set to continue until after he returns from his trip to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Yediyurappa, who heads a 10-member delegation to the Swiss ski resort, left on Sunday. Prior to his departure, he told reporters cabinet expansion will happen only after his return on January 24. “I discussed the issue with [BJP] national president Amit Shah for 30 minutes or so. He has given a positive response and I will expand the cabinet within two days after my return,” Yediyurappa said.

But sources said Shah, during his visit to Hubballi on Saturday, had indicated the exercise is likely to be delayed further as the central leadership will be busy with the assembly elections in Delhi. “Indications are there is no possibility of expanding the cabinet until February 11 when the electoral process for the Delhi elections ends,” said a source.

The development has obviously left ministerial aspirants, especially defectors from Congress and JD(S) who were re-elected on BJP tickets last month, restive. Moreover, while Yediyurappa has promised ministerial berths to all MLAs who switched to the BJP from Congress and JD(S), sources say Shah is only in favour of inducting six defectors (11 of whom won MLA seats on saffron party tickets in the byelections) into the cabinet.

“Shah’s advice to Yediyurappa is to strike a balance between defectors and loyalists. His concern is loyalists should not be left disappointed, while justice should be served to the defectors as well,” said a BJP functionary.

Meanwhile, KS Eshwarappa, senior party functionary and minister for rural development, said the BJP would never let down the defectors. “The party is indebted to them and I am sure they will all be rewarded,” he said.

BC Patil, one of the defectors, said some of them had met Shah in one-on-one meetings in Hubballi. “It was more a courtesy call and the issue of cabinet expansion didn’t come up during the meeting,” he said.

Mangaluru, July 13: Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP of Dakshina Kannada, has appealed the chief minister to give nod to impose a week-long lockdown in the coastal district in the wake of mounting coronavirus cases.

Mr Kateel, who is also the president of Karnataka BJP, participated in a video conference with chief minister BS Yediyurappa along with Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh and district in charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary.

The final decision about the lockdown in the district will be taken following a meeting under the leadership of the deputy commissioner, wherein the elected representatives of the district will express their opinions.