BJP leaders will meet Prez today
In an apparent volte face, the BJP on Sunday decided not to file a writ petition in the Bangalore high court challenging the decision of Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj to grant sanction to prosecute chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
But the original plan of the BJP to raise the issue with President Pratibha Patil when Central leaders, along with MPs, call on her, stands. The leaders will meet Ms Patil on Monday.
According to sources, BJP MP Ram Jethmalani prompted the move.
Meanwhile, despite denials from the BJP leadership, a strong rumour that Mr Yeddyurappa might be replaced with Mr K.S. Eshwarappa, the current chief of the BJP’s Karnataka unit, is doing the rounds.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr Yeddyurappa said, “I am ready to fight a political battle. I will face it. I am confident of riding through this political crisis.”
Earlier, the beleaguered chief minister had a lengthy meeting with Mr Jethmalani during which he discussed the strategy to be adopted in battling the governor’s decision. Mr Yeddyurappa also called on senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and explained the state of affairs in his state.
Special representative of the Karnataka government Dhanajaya Kumar said, “We are going by the advice of our lawyers. They have suggested to us not to file any petition in the court over the governor’s action.”
Taking potshots at the governor, Mr Yeddyurappa said, “The governor acted very hastily. First he did not give me an opportunity to answer the charges. Secondly, where was the need to urgently grant permission?” He further added, “By all this, the governor was unnecessarily troubling the BJP.”
Targeting the Congress over the issue, the Lingayat strongman said, “All this clearly points to the hidden agenda of the Congress.”
When reporters pointed to the remarks of party president Nitin Gadkari who had described the action of Mr Yeddyurappa in denotifying land to benefit his sons as “immoral” and not “illegal”, the embarrassed chief minister restricted himself to saying, “I don’t want to comment on it. I will discuss it with him personally and explain to him.”
Mr Yeddyurappa, who landed in Delhi on Sunday afternoon, said that he had come to meet Union home minister P. Chidambaram to explain his position in the tussle. But he had to change his plan of action after his meeting with Mr Jethmalani.
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