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ShareBanglore: Hundreds of supporters of Shobha Karandlaje, the lone woman minister in the beleaguered Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka, on Saturday threatened to commit suicide if she were to be dropped from the ministry at the behest of party rebels.
"We will not allow her to resign at any cost. And if she does, we will commit suicide in front of her house by immolating ourselves," the agitated fans screamed at a demonstration.
This, after rumours about the resignation of rural development minister Karandlaje spread like wildfire, with her supporters immediately gathering in front of her official residence to urge her not to quit.
Earlier, chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, while speaking to a television channel in New Delhi, said: "For my selfish ends, I had to ditch some people including Shobha or Baligar," hinting strongly that she would be dropped from the cabinet.
On hearing this, it didn't take long for Karandlaje's supporters and more than 100 BJP workers to gather and voice their discontent.
Raising slogans against the rebel camp -- the Reddy brothers -- the workers demanded that Karandlaje defy any whip by the party to quit.
They said of Karandlaje: "What crime has she committed? As the only woman minister in the cabinet, she has been working hard and striving to build the party for over a decade."
Addressing the protesting workers, Karandlaje said she was not in a position to comment at this stage. "If the party high command suggests I quit, I will have to. But the party workers need not worry. I will always be with them," she said.
"I am ready to sacrifice my post to save the government. But no one has asked me to quit yet. This conspiracy against me has been going on for long," she added.
The rebels have alleged excessive interference in the administration by Karandlaje and her removal has been reportedly offered by the party central leadership as part of a compromise formula to end the crisis in the BJP.
Even as the turmoil continued through Saturday, Karandlaje went to Vidhana Soudha and conducted a departmental meeting with officials.
