With mobile flashlights, Modi shows camaraderie with Yediyurappa

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi once again showed his camaraderie with Karnataka BJP veteran BS Yediyurappa as the two leaders walked hand in hand during the inauguration of the Shivamogga airport on Monday.

The PM acknowledged the stature of Yediyurappa, who continues to be a key factor in Karnataka politics even as he has announced not to contest polls anymore.

Soon after he was replaced as chief minister, Bommai was included in the BJP parliamentary board, the highest decision-making body, signifying his contribution to the party's rich gains in Karnataka, the first state in South India.

"The PM and BSY go back a long way. The camaraderie and mutual respect are unmissable. This gesture of PM holding BSY's hand as he walks in to inaugurate the airport at Shivmoga is an acknowledgement of BSY's seminal role in opening the gates of south India for BJP," tweeted BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya, a representation of general sentiments in the BJP.

The PM once again, in his address at Shivmogga, lauded the pace of development in Karnataka done by the double-engine government, saying earlier the development in the state was limited to big cities but the BJP government under Bommai is working to take the development to the villages of Karnataka. Even Yediyurappa in his speech acknowledged the pace of development in the state and "double engine" growth.

PM Modi made the Shivmogga event momentous for Yediyurappa as he requested the audience to raise the flashlights of their smartphones as a show of respect for the BJP veteran from the state, evoking a massive response from the gathering.