Top BJP leaders of Karnataka who have been involved in a no-holds barred battle to secure an edge in the battle for the CM’s post, received a dressing down from the party top brass for what it termed as ‘childish’ behaviour.
None of the top guns—Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, party state president K.S. Eshwarappa or CM aspirant Jagadish Shettar—were spared and were squarely blamed for precipitating the leadership crisis. Mr Shettar was pulled up for going to the extent of resigning from the cabinet along with eight other ministers when the central leadership had already announced that the dispute would be solved after the presidential polls.
Sources in the state BJP told this newspaper that party president Nitin Gadkari, senior leader Arun Jaitley, party national vice-president Ram Lal and Karnataka in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan made no secret of their displeasure over state leaders going public with their differences making the BJP a laughing stock in Karnataka. “The resignations have severely embarrassed the party. We requested you (Shettar) to wait till the presidential election was over but you did not pay heed to our advice and then resigned from the cabinet” the central leaders said. They said they were upset that he had joined hands with former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who had ensured his defeat in the CM election in August last year.
Sadananda Gowda and party state president K.S. Eshwarappa were not spared either. The CM earned flak for his idea of convening a meeting of his group of ministers to shore up his defences with senior leaders wondering why Mr Gowda did not invite his other ministerial colleagues. This had exposed his partisan attitude, they felt. As for party chief Eshwarappa, the leaders did not accept any of the excuses given by him and said he should have intervened to set the house in order. His statement that he too was an aspirant for the CM’s post, had only complicated matters and embarrassed the state government, the leaders said. A senior leader who is a member of the party’s core committee, said central leaders had promised a decision by the week-end.