As Yeddyurappa exerts pressure, BJP underplays crisis

Even as fresh crisis erupted in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka on Monday, the party underplayed the problem, saying it will be solved.

"These things are part and parcel of being a democratic party. The party will resolve them," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

She also said there was no comparison between the current events in the party in Rajasthan and what happened in Karnataka.

"No two states can be compared. These are leaders with strong ideas about how to govern states. The party has to accommodate many different leaders," she said.

The spokesperson, however, agreed that many of the differences should not have come out in public.

"The party knows it has to be solved," she added.

The BJP's government in Karnataka has been in trouble since its first chief minister BS Yeddyurappa was forced to quit over graft charges.

He Saturday secured the resignation of nine ministers loyal to him in a bid to force the BJP leaders to replace current Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda with another person of his choice.

Yeddyurappa, however, clarified Monday that he was not quitting the party as of now since senior party leader Arun Jaitley had called him and asked him not to resign.

The BJP came to power for the first time in the state in May 2008. Its rule has been marked by dissidence and corruption and other cases against at least 20 of the party's 120 legislators, including Yeddyurappa.