One minister threatened suicide and another said he would quit the party while a legislator warned of mass resignations...
There was high drama here on Monday as Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa met his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Delhi to discuss cabinet reshuffle plan.
"Suicide is not ruled out if I am dropped," minister for sports and youth affairs Goolihatti Shekar told reporters here. Shekar is one of the five Independents who were rewarded with a ministry for helping the BJP form its first government in Karnataka as well as south India in May 2008 when the party fell short of majority in the 225-member (including one nominated) assembly.
Shekar's colleague, minister for public libraries and mass education K. Shivangouda Naik, threatened to quit the party if he was axed in the reshuffle. Naik, who won in 2008 assembly polls as Janata Dal-Secular candidate, later quit the assembly, joined the BJP and won the by-poll and was made a minister.
And legislator Belur Gopalakrishna, aspiring for a cabinet berth, warned: "Around 20 BJP legislators will quit the party if I am not the minister." Gopalakrishna, who was ticked off by state BJP chief K.S. Eshwarappa last week after he demanded a cabinet berth, said he has been insulted as has been his community (he belongs to Ediga community, whose main occupation in the past was toddy tapping).
Tourism minister and mining baron G. Janardhana Reddy, who played a major role in winning over the five Independents, said in Bellary there was no question of dropping any of them from the ministry. "They helped the party when in need. I have discussed the matter with party president Nitin Gadkari. They will not be dropped," asserted Reddy, who almost brought the Yeddyurappa ministry down in October-November 2009.
The drama in Bengaluru unfolded as Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa met party president Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi to finalise the names of legislators to be included in the ministry and those to be shown the door.
Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa have sought the central leadership's help as the core committee comprising senior state BJP leaders and functionaries of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) could not finalise the list after talks Saturday and Sunday. Eshwarappa played down the threats of suicide and resignations. "It is natural for legislators to aspire to be ministers. BJP is a disciplined party. We will convince everybody," he told reporters in Delhi. Karnataka can have a ministry of 34, inclusive of the chief minister, as stipulated by the constitution. There are three vacancies in the ministry created by the resignations of ministers over various scandals.