'Supreme leaders will decide': Pralhad Joshi rebuffs speculation on succession

New Delhi, July 24: Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Saturday said the BJP top leadership has not spoken to him about succeeding Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, whose exit seems imminent, and it is only the media which is discussing the matter.

As Yediyurappa had announced that he would abide by the party's top brass instruction on July 25, Joshi said he has no clue whether the central leadership has asked him to resign.

"No one has spoken to me about it (succeeding Yediyurappa). It's only the media, which is discussing it. As no one has spoken to me, there is no need to react to it," Joshi told reporters.

Asked what if he is made the chief minister, the Union Minister quipped, "I never answer hypothetical questions with 'ifs' and 'buts'..I don't want to answer such questions."

To a question, Joshi said he would not react because he was not aware that the chief minister had been asked to resign.

He emphasised that the 'supreme leaders' Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah apart from the BJP leadership led by party president J P Nadda would decide.

"There is no high command in the BJP but national leadership. We got different leaderships from time to time. There was Rajnath Singh, after which Nitin Gadkari came, who was succeeded by Amit Shah and now J P Nadda is there. In the present situation, we have supreme leaders in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. They will decide," Joshi said.

He declined to comment on seers of the dominant Lingayat community warning the BJP that it would be ruined if Lingayat strongman Yediyurappa is removed from the post.

The 58-year-old Joshi has been Dharwad MP since 2004.

He had also served as the BJP's state unit president from July 2012 to January 2016.

With Yediyurappa dropping a strong hint that his exit as chief minister was on the cards, speculation is rife that Joshi would take on the mantle.