Yeddyurappa should be given important position in party: Karnataka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Sunday said former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa should be given an important position in BJP.

"Yeddyurappa should be given an important position in the party as he is a very senior leader," he told reporters at nearby Chincholi, adding it was for the central leadership to take a suitable call.

Gowda dismissed reports of dissension in the party and said the March 3 core committee meeting at Delhi would address all issues.

Yeddyurappa had remained defiant after being rebuffed by BJP President Nitin Gadkari at the 'Chintan Manthan Baithak' in Gulbarga on Saturday in his bid to regain Chief Ministership and said he and his followers would not attend a meeting convened by him in Delhi on March 3.

He also said he would discuss the issues (apparently referring to making him Chief Minister or giving a position in the state BJP unit) with his supporters on February 27 and thereafter convey the decision to the central leadership.

Gowda flayed the Centre's "apathy" towards developing backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region and said he would give major thrust to development of this region in the state's budget.

"I will take a cue from Yeddyurappa's agriculture budget presented last year," he said.