BANGALORE: In a major snub to the BJP high command, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday remained defiant, refusing to step down and threatened to pull-down the first ever BJP government in the south if his two conditions — either retain him as Chief Minister or choose his nominee as his successor — are not met by the party.The Chief Minister has proposed the names of Udupi- Chikmagalur MP Sadananda Gowda and Higher Education Minister V S Acharya to the high command as his possible successors besides seeking the state BJP president’s post for himself.He has also sought time till July 31 to step down.According to sources, Yeddyurappa was adamant on pursuing these conditions and was not ready for any compromise on this.On the other hand, the party high command has rejected all his demands and told him in no uncertain words to fall in line first and then negotiate. The party is also said to have warned Yeddyurappa of disciplinary action if he continued to disregard the party’s orders.The party has decided to wait till Saturday before taking action against him.Even as the deadlock continued, the state BJP suffered a vertical split over the issue.In a dramatic turn of events, the support for Yeddyurappa within the party began to swell on Friday as the day progressed. By evening, he was successful in garnering the support of about 60 MLAs, 14 MPs and 21 MLCs.On the other hand, almost an equal number of MLAs stood with the party.While the Yeddyurappa faction has been pressing for his continuation in office, the party loyals headed by BJP national general secretary H N Ananthkumar and state president K S Eshwarappa want him to abide by the party’s decision. They are also opposing Yeddyurappa’s choice of his successor.As a result, party national leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, who landed here in the afternoon with a mandate to ensure smooth succession, found themselves playing the role of negotiators through the day.Their efforts to persuade Yeddyurappa failed to yield desired results till 8 pm.Meanwhile, the BJP legislature party meeting, which was supposed to be held on Friday to elect its new leader, had been cancelled at the last moment after it was postponed twice.Jaitely plays cricketBANGALORE: Taking time off from tackling the worstever crisis his party was facing in Karnataka, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley video-conferenced from a five-star hotel here on certain issues related to the Indian Cricket Board.“Yes. Jaitleyji wanted video-conferencing facility in order to discuss some issues reportedly concerning Lalit Modi, and the hotel authorities where he was staying, obliged. A private agency was hired to make logistical arrangements for the video-conferencing,” BJP sources told Express.However, it could not be ascertained what subject Jaitley discussed, as he was not available for comment.“No. None of the BJP functionaries were present at the video-conference,” sources said.BJP sources, however, clarified that Jaitley was indeed very much a part of the fire-fighting team and called on defiant Yeddyurappa at his residence to ascertain his views and persuade him to quit.“Jaitley led the team of central leadership’s representatives to Yeddyurappa’s residence and returned to a five-star hotel in Kumara Krupa Road, where he was closeted with party leaders to discuss their talks with Yeddyurappa. He (Jaitley) also telephonically briefed national party chief Nitin Gadkari, L K Advani and Ram Lal (organisation incharge) about the talks,” an office bearer privy to the meeting said and added, “It was only after the meeting that Jaitley returned to another five-star hotel — where he is staying — to video-conference.”
Comments
0 comment