Bangalore: DVS Thanks Rebels for Relenting, to Abide by High Command's Directives
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Jul 2: Though not completely safe as of now, Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda appears to have managed to secure a temporary reprieve with the nine ''rebel’’ ministers owing allegiance to former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa agreeing to withdraw their resignations following the intervention of BJP high command and promised to abide by whatever ''directive” he receives from the central leadership.
Warmly thanking the rebel ministers led by rural development and panchayat raj minister Jagadish Shettar, who has been propped up the Yeddyurappa camp as the replacement of Gowda, for their decision to withdraw the resignation, the chief minister said he had no ill-will against anybody.
''I am a disciplined soldier of the party. I will abide by whatever directive that the party leadership gives me,” he said pointing out that he had been holding on to this stand from the beginning.
To a pointed question on whether the decision of the rebel ministers to withdraw their resignation letters implied that he had will ''survive” and continue in power, Gowda replied: ''I am not an astrologer to predict what will happen.”
''I have been discharging my responsibilities and striving my best to provide a clean, efficient, good and corruption-free administration during the last 11 months,” Gowda said.
The chief minister, who has left for Delhi to attend a meeting of the NDA leaders and all BJP State chief ministers, is expected to call on BJP national president Nitin Gadkari and NDA working chairperson L K Advani and other leaders on the current political crisis in the State.
The BJP high command is understood to have assured Yeddyurappa and his loyalist ministers that their demands and grievances will be addressed after the withdrawal of the resignations. BJP’s opposition leader in Rajya Sabha and troubleshooter Arun Jaitely is also learnt to have personally spoken upon Yeddyurappa to prevail upon Shettar and other ministers to withdraw their resignations to create a conducive atmosphere for resolving the crisis.
Shettar and some of the rebel ministers are believed to have been asked by the party’s national leadership to come to Delhi to be at hand for discussions in the presence of Gowda and State BJP president K S Eshwarappa on finding an amicable solution to the crisis dogging the state unit and the government in the State.
Meanwhile, Eshwarappa also told reporters that the political crisis would be solved soon. The very fact that the nine ministers have agreed to withdraw their resignations indicated that they were amenable to finding a solution. ''I am hopeful of an early solution,” he said.
However, sources close to the chief minister suggested that he is unlikely to be disturbed as it might set a bad precedent and indicate that the BJP high command can be bulldozed by rebels into forcing change of leadership. There is also no valid reason for change of leadership when there is no allegation or charges against the chief minister, the sources said pointing out that the D V Sadananda Gowda regime’s performance despite 11 vacant ministerial berths must be appreciated.
The sources pointed out that the party high command might ask the chief minister to accommodate the wishes of the Yeddyurappa camp and in all probability might ensure that Shettar is elevated as deputy chief minister. There are also suggestions that Eshwarappa may be inducted into the cabinet and may be given a deputy chief minister’s post if Yeddyurappa is to be given a position in the party ahead of the assembly polls as it would amount to appeasing Vokkaligas, Lingayats and Kurubas represented by the three major factions within the state unit.
With presidential elections due to be held on July 19, the D V Sadananda Gowda ministry may also be asked to convene a meeting of the State legislature, a key demand of the Yeddyurapa faction, to demonstrate unity within the state unit of BJP and even convene the legislature session for passing the budget for the current year later this month.
But one other possibility in the event of BJP high command acceding to Yeddyurppa’s demand for change of leadership and agreeing to the selection of Shettar to replace Gowda with an eye on the Lingayat vote bank in the ensuing assembly elections, according to political circles, is continuing Eshwarappa, who belongs to the Kuruba community, as the State party president and installing home minister and transport minister R Ashok, who hails from the Vokkaliga community predominant in the Old Mysore region unlike the chief minister from coastal Dakshina Kannada, and to mollify Sadananda Gowda with a key position in the party at the national level.
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