Euphoric after the mega rally at Haveri where he launched his Karnataka Janata Party (KJP), lingayat strongman B.S. Yeddyurappa might have thundered that he was not averse to pulling down the BJP government but the reality is otherwise. Sources said Mr Yeddyurappa has turned his back on overtures from the Congress party seeking his support for a no-confidence motion, wrecking opposition plans to topple the Jagadish Shettar government.
Speaking to this newspaper, a senior leader who was in touch with Mr Yeddyurappa, confided that the former CM — who had earlier said he would do nothing to destabilise a government headed by a lingayat — was sticking to his stance and was in no mood to support the motion. “He did not even take a second to reject the idea. He just said, why do you want to bring down the government when it has so little left of its tenure?” the source said.
Another reason which could have forced the Congress to put off plans for a confidence motion is the lack of trust between them and the Janata Dal (S). A Congress source said: “We felt JD(S) will not co-operate with us. We even received information that instead of supporting us, they may choose to walk out when the motion is voted upon”. To add to the party’s problems, a section of Congress legislators particularly those from south Karnataka are opposed to having any truck with the JD (S) with polls just five months away as they will be vying for the same Vokkaliga vote bank.
Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah demanded the immediate dissolution of Assembly due to the confusing state of affairs in the ruling BJP. “With nearly 14 legislators sharing the dais with Mr Yeddyurappa in Haveri on Sunday, Chief Minister, Jagadish Shettar has lost his majority. The House should be dissolved,” Mr Siddaramaiah said.
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Gadkari slams Pradhan for messing up affairs?
age correspondent
BENGALURU, DEC. 10
BJP president Nitin Gakari reportedly gave Dharmendra Pradhan, general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, an earful for messing up affairs in the state unit and not submitting an accurate report on the exit of former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa along with the numerical strength of ministers and legislators in his camp.
Sources in the state unit of BJP told this newspaper that Mr Gadkari and senior central leader Arun Jaitley took Mr Pradhan to task for not assessing the situation and likely consequences of the former chief minister severing ties with the party to launch Karnataka Janata Party (KJP).
Some of the state unit leaders —president K.S. Eshwarappa and organising secretary Santosh in particular — were also at the receiving end of the ire of the top leaders during a meeting held in New Delhi last week. The sources said based on the feedback from state unit leaders, Mr Pradhan portrayed an incorrect picture about the state of affairs in Karnataka. He reportedly told the top brass that though the former chief minister was claiming the support of 50 legislators, there were only a dozen of them in his camp. Besides, Mr Pradhan also reported to leaders in Delhi that Mr Yeddyurappa’s departure would not cause much harm as only a handful were likely to follow him.