Karnataka CM Bommai depends on central BJP leadership to stay in office

Unlike Yediyurappa, who held his own against the BJP's central command through his tumultuous innings, Bommai is critically dependent on New Delhi to keep his job

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was uncharitably dubbed a “night watchman” by his detractors within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when he replaced B S Yediyurappa on July 28 last year.

“Bommai is everybody’s man and nobody’s man,” said a BJP insider on condition of anonymity, claiming that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Karnataka BJP did not want him until he allegedly ingratiated himself with a senior Sangh functionary through a relative of the latter. Indeed, Bommai’s position was so shaky that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had to publicly endorse his appointment two months later in Davanagere and