cm basavaraj bommai says in the model of development he envisages for the state people should be partners and not just beneficiaries in a wideranging interview he dismisses suggestions that he is perceived as an outsider for lack of an rss background says his relationship with his predecessor and mentor yediyurappa whom he referred to as my leader remains deeply complementary and clarifies that his govt will go ahead with the anticonversion bill in effect in many statesit has been a long journey for you from a job at tata motors to karnataka cm did your selection as chief minister in july come as a surprisei never had any aspirations for power i never aspired to become a minister even my name for the chief ministers post was not there till the last minute after much deliberation and considerations on the political situation prevailing at the time the central leadership of the party decided on my name on the last day perhaps our delhi leadership presumed that i was the best possible choice to succeed such a tall leader in the party like yediyurappa who had voluntarily resigned i was the consensus choice to take everyone along within the party including the senior leadersyou were picked by the bjp leadership for the top job in the state despite not having an rss background has it been difficult for the seniors in the party to accept the decisionto call me an outsider is a misnomer as soon as i joined bjp i was welcomed and accepted wholeheartedly as a member of the party the rss accepts all people within and outside they go out of their way to accept and identify people with character and talent in fact i had attended hindi prachar sabhas at an rss shakha during my school days i am very much an insiderhow would you describe your relationship with former cm bs yediyurappa buzz is he wants to return to active politicsa leader is a leader it does not matter who becomes the chief minister yediyurappa is a very tall leader he is a peoples leader he is someone who cannot be compared to anyone i have a very comfortable relationship with him and i am in sync with him he is one of the few who recognised me very early he is my mentor i as a cm am comfortable with him being my leader as well see when virat kohli took over as captain of the team from ms dhoni on field there were several consultations with dhoni as a senior player that is the relationship between me and yediyurappathe governments decision to bring an anticonversion law has triggered an uproar especially from the christian community will your government still go ahead with the planyes we are already working on the draft of the anticonversion law after studying legislations introduced by other states including uttar pradesh we are planning to table the bill in the belagavi session of the legislature to be held in