Former chief minister Yeddyurappa received a rap on his knuckles for his ploys to bring pressure on the BJP high command to reinstate him as the chief minister.
Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa received a rap on his knuckles for his ploys to bring pressure on the BJP high command to reinstate him as the chief minister. Not only has his rebellious gesture of fielding his own candidate, BG Puttaswamy, as the third BJP candidate in Rajya Sabha election without the high command’s nod resulted in the latter’s suspension from the party’s primary membership, it has also led to a minister threatening to quit with his followers if Yeddyurappa was brought back as CM.
BJP state president KS Eshwarappa suspended Puttaswamy even as BJP national president, Nitin Gadkari, refused to bow to Yeddyurappa’s pressure tactics. He refused to take any hasty decision despite Yeddyurappa’s 24-hour deadline, which ended on Monday evening.
Gadkari, who was in Mumbai on Monday, however, assured that the party national leadership would discuss Yeddyurappa’s demand of being reinstated as CM within the next two-three days and take an “appropriate decision”.
He asked Yeddyurappa to show patience and allow DV Sadananda Gowda to present the budget on March 21.
On a day of hectic political developments, the dissidence within BJP worsened with municipal administration minister Balachandra Jharkiholi threatening to quit the assembly with 20 of his supporters if Gowda was removed from the CM’s post. Jharkiholi, who held a separate meeting with over 10 BJP MLAs in Belgaum, said Gowda should be allowed to present the budget and that his MLAs would submit their resignations if Yeddyurappa was reinstated.
Yeddyurappa’s strategy to mount further pressure by fielding his former political secretary Puttaswamy in the Rajya Sabha election also led to Eshwarappa serving showcause notices to 10 BJP MLAs who endorsed Puttaswamy’s nomination.
The party bosses are hoping to see the strong message to cause disarray in Yeddyurappa’s camp on the eve of the budget session, scheduled to start on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a delegation of 13 BJP MPs loyal to Yeddyurappa met BJP national leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj in Delhi on Monday. They made a strong plea for fulfilling the top brass’s earlier assurance that Yeddyurappa would be reinstated if he was cleared of Lokayukta charges.
Their mediation failed to yield results as Jaitley reportedly said that the issue would have to be discussed in the BJP core committee meeting. The meeting could not be convened as Gadkari and other party top leaders are expected to return to Delhi on Tuesday. “Jaitley has asked us to wait for another two days to discuss Yeddyurappa’s demand at the core committee meeting. He also wants us to allow Sadananda Gowda to present the budget,” said BJP MP Basavaraj, who was part of the delegation.
Reportedly, Yeddyurappa and his loyalists have threatened to quit the assembly membership if his demand was not accepted by Tuesday morning.
Most BJP MLAs from Bangalore identified themselves as ‘neutral group’. They held a separate meeting under the leadership of Home minister R Ashoka, who said: “The decision of our party top brass is final in resolving the present leadership crisis.”
With the issue of state leadership showing signs of snowballing into a show of strength between Veerashaiva and Vokkaliga communities, the challenge before the BJP high command is threatening to attain disastrous proportions.
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