Yediyurappa cannot retire; will fight 2023 polls under his guidance: Bommai

Senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa can never retire and the party will fight the 2023 assembly polls under his guidance, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Friday.

Bommai's remarks come hours after Yediyurappa announced that he is vacating his Shikaripura constituency and will not contest the next election.

Yediyurappa also said that his son and party's state vice-president B Y Vijayendra will contest the 2023 assembly polls from Shikaripura.

The former chief minister's announcement seems to indicate the end of his electoral politics.

"He never retires. Yediyurappa has never retired. In the next elections, his strength and guidance will be there," Bommai told reporters when asked under whose leadership the party will fight the next polls in the absence of Yediyurappa.

He also mentioned that Yediyurappa is a "fatherly figure" and the central leaders know about that.

The next assembly election in Karnataka is scheduled for May 2023.

Bommai is in the national capital to attend the farewell dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for outgoing president Ram Nath Kovind.

The Karnataka chief minister also called on President-elect Droupadi Murmu and congratulated her.