A section of Vokkaliga legislators of the BJP are set to play the disappearing game by embarking on foreign tours at a time when the party top brass is seriously considering calling a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party (BJPLP) to discuss leadership change.
Reason: These MLAs do not want BSY loyalists to unseat fellow Vokkaliga, Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, by asserting they have a majority if such a meeting is convened.
The legislators have been mounting pressure on the chief minister to allow them to go on a foreign study tour as members of various legislature committees. In the absence of a large number of MLAs, it will be difficult for the party to call a meeting and have a convincing debate on leadership change, said sources.
The Vokkaliga legislators met over dinner recently and are in touch with MLAs considered loyal to the BSY camp too. "I did receive a call from them 3-4 days ago. They asked for my passport but I am yet to hand it over to them. I have a feeling that they plan to take as many legislators as possible on a study tour, but I am not sure if they will succeed in saving Sadananda Gowda," a legislator from the BSY camp told this newspaper.
Another source questioned the rationale behind the BSY camp's demand for convening the legislature party meeting and wondered why Mr Gowda should give in to their demand? "It is Mr Gowda's prerogative to convene the BJPLP meeting. Will any leader call a meeting where invariably, a resolution will be moved for his ouster? Some Vokkaliga leaders therefore struck on the idea of sending MLAs abroad on study tours for a week to ten days. This is a tactic to buy time and scuttle the Yeddyurappa camp's strategy to get Sadananda Gowda out," the source explained.