Bangalore: Mining Barons Continue to Blow Hot
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Jun 4: While Eshwarappa in a virtual volte face, distanced himself from the statements the media has been attributing to him, relating to his outbursts against Chief Minister(CM) B S Yeddyurappa, after the central leaders of the BJP held parleys with him. The energy minister seems to have lost the steam all of a sudden and the major controversy the state BJP was expected to face, seems to have been warded off,  albeit temporarily.

At the same time, the mining coterie which is claimed to control the fortunes of the BJP and its government in the state, continues to be on the offensive. They are up against the Chief Minister, and it is gathered, the disgruntled BJP leaders will soon meet under their leadership to size the CM up. The group, which shocked the BJP leadership by holding a meeting of supporters in Bellary under the leadership of tourism minister Janardan Reddy, later spoke out its mind through a statement issued by MLA Somashekhar Reddy, who belongs to the Reddy family, against the arrogant behaviour and highhandedness of the Chief Minister.

Eshwarappa, who was part of a state delegation that had been to New Delhi to meet and congratulate the members of the new union cabinet including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, continued to keep a discreet distance from the Chief Minister. It may be noted, that Yeddyurappa himself stated that he does not believe in holding dialogues with the dissatisfied party leaders. Realizing the abysmal damage the stand off might cost the party's fortunes in Karnataka, party national president Rajnath Singh and general secretary Arun Jaitley summoned Eshwarappa and held prolonged discussions with him at around 2 pm on Wednesday June 3.

It is said, during his meeting with Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, Yeddyurappa and state BJP president D V Sadanand Gowda had raised the topic of unrest caused by the statement of Eshwarappa that they said, had harmed the credibility of the party. They had claimed, by making allegations of distributing liquor and cash against his own Chief Minister, Eshwarappa had handed over a potent weapon for the opposition parties to use against the government.

Speaking at a press conference held later in the evening of Wednesday June 3, Eshwarappa said he had never said that the party could win 19 seats by distributing liquor and cash. "I had said, distributing liquor and cash is the culture of the JDS and the Congress Party. My statement has been twisted by interested quarters, culminating into a major controversy. There are no differences of opinion between myself and my Chief Minister. He is our leader. Minor controversies are natural in any family," he stated. He also said, that he had clarified to the leaders that he was worried that rather than developmental issues, distribution of liquor and cash emerged as main topics in the Lok Sabha election. He also added, that he had expressed the need for the appointment of a central party leader to officiate as the in charge of the BJP’s affairs in the state and that he had been told that Arun Jaitley would be made the in-charge of state BJP affairs soon.

It is said, the Reddy brothers want Karunakar Reddy to be made the deputy Chief Minister. Karunakar Reddy also is said to have demanded the home portfolio. It is thought, that by occupying important portfolios, the mining lobby is targetting to have a vice-like grip on the government. The meeting held in Bellary was attended by 20 to 30 legislators, while it is said, the supporters of Reddy brothers will hold another meeting in Bangalore on Friday June 5 to plan their future strategy.