Zeenews Bureau
Bangalore: In a further hardening of stand, former chief minister turned rebel BS Yeddyurappa has refused to go to Delhi for talks with BJP central leadership till he is reinstated as chief minister if Karnataka.
As per reports, Yeddyurappa has refused to leave Bangalore till his demands are met. His reluctance to head to Delhi is understandable as he had, over the weekend, whisked away almost 50 MLAs to a resort outside Bangalore and would not want any breaking away from his ranks while he is away.
Importantly, the number of MLAs supporting Yeddyurappa has swelled to 70; a news channel said quoting an MLA.
However, party chief Gadkari has reportedly managed to make the Lingayat strongman agree to allow current chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda present the state’s budget tomorrow.
The development comes on a day when the 48-hour deadline set by Yeddyurappa for reinstating him as the state’s chief minister ends. This is the third deadline set by BSY to the high command to concede to his demand. He had earlier set January 14 and February 27 as deadlines, which the BJP high command ignored.
Clearly, the entire episode has once again exposed the BJP leadership’s failure to control the aspirations of powerful regional leaders, especially Yeddyurappa, who has caused trouble in the past too.
The leadership is in a fix and it appears to be a tough call for the BJP high command to decide whether it wants DV Sadananda Gowda to continue as Chief Minister or replace him with Yeddyurappa.
Yeddyurappa is reportedly not in good terms with Gowda, who was handpicked by him to succeed him when he had to resign in July 2011 after corruption charges were leveled against him by the state’s Lokayukta.
However, the circumstances have changed after the Bangalore High Court, on March 8, quashed an FIR filed against Yeddyurappa in an illegal mining case.
Yeddyurappa and his supporters demanded that the BJP central leadership should fulfill its promise to reinstate him as the Chief Minister as it was assured to him now that his name has been cleared.
In a bid to put pressure on the party, BSY has even threatened to break away and float his own party if his demands are not met, reports said.
