As the crisis in the state BJP deepens, minister Balachandra Jarkiholi is reportedly preparing to move 21 MLAs to a private hotel near Hospet to put them out of the reach of the Yeddyurappa camp , which is trying to win over more of the legislators and get Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda out of the way.
All the 21 MLAs are set to meet in Bengaluru late Monday night before leaving for Hospet, according to sources. They include Raju Kage, Bellubbi, Sarvabhouma Bagali, Aihole, Sampangi, Nagraj, Nanjundaswamy, Manappa Vajjal, Anand Asnotikar, Shivangouda Naik, Abhay Patil, and five MLAs from the Raichur region, besides the five independent MLAs, according to sources.
“Already, 15 of these MLAs are with Jarkiholi in Bengaluru and the rest will join them later tonight. Mr Jarkiholi will take a decision on where to hold our meetings for the next two days to draw up a stragety to defeat Mr Yeddyurappa,'' sources add. Mr Jarkiholi warned that the legislators would meet Governor H R Bhardwaj if any attempts were made by the Yeddyurappa group to stop Mr Sadananda Gowda from presenting the Budget. “We will demand dissolution of the government if Yeddyurappa continues to create problems for the chief minister,”' he said.
Mr Jarkiholi reportedly got a confirmation from the 21 MLAs Sunday night that they were not willing to support Mr Yeddyurappa and would resign if the BJP high command decided to make him chief minister. “We are ready to resign right now if Mr Yeddyurappa is made chief minister,” asserted Kagwad MLA, Raju Kage.