Yeddy rubbishes reports of Modi contesting LS polls from K'taka

Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP president B S Yeddyurappa on Monday rubbished reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the state, terming it "far from the truth".

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the November 3 assembly and parliamentary by-polls in the state will be finalised at the party's core committee meeting on Wednesday. "All this is far from the truth, unnecessarily such news is being spread. There is no substance in it," the former chief minister told reporters in response to a question about Modi contesting from Karnataka.

There were reports in certain sections of the local media that with an aim to increase BJP's influence in the South, Modi was likely to contest from one of the southern states, most probably from Karnataka along with Varanasi, the seat that he currently represents. BJP is presently not in power in any of the south Indian states.

Karnataka is the only state where the party has considerable presence and has had its government in the past.

Yeddyurappa, who has been meeting several party leaders regarding finalising candidates for the LS and assembly by-election, said it would be finalised by Wednesday. "Day after tomorrow evening, we have called a core committee meeting where we will finalise our candidates for the three LS and two Vidhan Sabha constituencies...," he said.