Team Yedyurappa seems to be laying the groundwork for launching a new party by trying to persuade former BJP MLA, Shakunthala Shetty, to join forces with it and strengthen its presence in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, considered the strongholds of the ruling party. Dakshina Kannada is also the home district of former Chief Minister, D V Sadananda Gowda, who has fallen out with Mr Yeddyurappa. The team's targets appear to be dissatisfied BJP leaders like Shakunthala Shetty , who was denied a BJP ticket and contested the 2008 elections as an independent. She was also denied a ministerial berth in the JDS-BJP government.
Ms Shetty has been wooed by various political parties owing to her good support base in Puttur and now the BSY camp seems keen on getting her on its side to make an inroad into the coastal districts. Confirming that she had been approached by leaders close to Mr Yeddyurappa, Ms Shetty told the Deccan Chronicle that they had urged her not to take a hasty decision on her political future. “They appealed to me to join them and not any other party. I told them that the Congress, JD(S), JD(U) and BSR Congress have already approached me and only time will decide which party I will choose to support. I have not given them any assurance,” she said.
Sources close to Ms Shetty added that she was told by the BSY team that he was “getting ready” to chalk his own course and was keen on gaining her support. “The same BSY team had denied her a ministry when she was an MLA and was silent when she was denied a ticket to contest the elections in 2008. But she was asked to forget the past and join him,” sources said.