Holding hands, twisting arms
The demand made by former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa for a lion’s share of plum portfolios in the new cabinet for his supporters and the party state president’s post for Shobha Karandlaje or Revu Nayak Belamagi, forced the rival camp led by outgoing Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to up the ante on Tuesday. Both Mr Eshwarappa and Mr Gowda sought blessings from central leaders before convening a late night meeting of their supporters at Anugraha on Monday night.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a source in BJP disclosed that Mr Yeddyurappa reached the star hotel on Monday, where BJP's trouble shooters Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Dharmendhra Pradhan were chalking out strategies for a smooth transition of power from Mr Gowda to Mr Jagadish Shettar. They were dumbfounded when Mr Yeddyurappa put forth his demands. "You have conceded my demands and he (Mr Gowda) has agreed to step down without any resistance which shows the clout I enjoy. It has proved that I am a leader without whom the party cannot survive. I want all major portfolios as it will be easy for me to get the desired number of seats in the Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections," the source said quoting Mr Yeddyurappa.
Hearing this, BJP state president, Mr Eshwarappa shot back that the party's image had taken a beating due to BSY's unending rebellion and the series of corruption charges he was facing, so he had no moral right to talk about bringing the party to power. Mr Gowda reminded Mr Yeddyurappa that he was party state president and had contributed to the BJP’s victory in 110 seats in 2008.
"No doubt Lingayats voted for the party in big numbers, but you cannot neglect the Vokkaliga's contributions. Otherwise, how could the party win 35 seats in Vokkaliga dominated areas like Yeshwantpur and Yelahanka," he asked, adding that he chose not to resist only to prevent the situation from reaching a point of no return.
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