Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister of State for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu has got a big relief, as he managed to convince the party high command and also Prime Minister Narendra Modi to retain him in the Central cabinet.
According to reports from New Delhi, the BJP central leadership has decided to renominate Venkaiah to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka again in the forthcoming elections to be held next week. This is for the third consecutive time that Venkaiah would get RS berth from Karnataka, though there is a stiff opposition from the local BJP leaders and cadre.
Even the Kannada people have bombarded social media with messages that Venkaiah should be sent to AP, not Karnataka, as he does not know Kannada but would try to impose Hindi on them.
Yet, the BJP leadership could not find another ideal place for Venkaiah to become RS member. It does not want to beg for RS seat from AP, since TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu made it clear that his party would field candidates for all the three seats it gets.
If at all there is a request from Modi, Naidu might have to give it to Nirmala Sitaraman for the second time. So, Venkaiah would have to move to Karnataka!
