B S Arun/DHNS

New Delhi, Jul 18: The BJP central leadership appeared to be in a Catch-22 situation as it began to grapple with the raging controversy over the Reddy brothers’ alleged involvement in illegal mining.

Stung by Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj’s open demand to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to drop the Reddy brothers—Janardhana Reddy and Karunakara Reddy—from the cabinet, top party leaders took stock of the political situation in the state at a meeting in the national capital on Saturday.

The meeting, held at the residence of veteran leader L K Advani, is understood to have discussed the pros and cons of considering the demand for dropping the two ministers.

It was felt that dropping the two, who had rebelled against Yeddyurappa just nine months ago, could cost the party its first government in the South as they still enjoyed enough support among the party legislators to topple the Yeddyurappa ministry.

Credibility factor

On the contrary, there was a general feeling that the continuation of the two could further dent the image of not only the state government and the party in Karnataka but also party’s credibility at the national level. “It was felt that the recent controversy has defamed the party and the government,” a senior leader said reflecting the thinking of the leadership.

If removing the Reddys from the ministry was not an option, at least some way should be found to rebuild the dented party image, they felt. Yeddyurappa and his colleagues V S Acharya, Suresh Kumar, BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar, state BJP president K S Eshwarappa, former president Sadananda Gowda and Delhi special representative Dhananjay Kumar attended the meeting.

During the day, Yeddyurappa held a separate closed door discussion with Ananth Kumar over tea at his residence. At one stage, Advani is understood to have remarked that the party should be even prepared to sacrifice the government for the sake of its credibility. However, there was no consensus on this from the state delegation.

Advani’s stand

There were suggestions at the meeting that there was a need to keep the Reddys under leash lest the image of the government and party continued to suffer. Advani was of the view that the Reddys should be talked to and told about this. He said he would ask BJP president Nitin Gadkari and senior leader Arun Jaitely to talk to the Reddys. One Karnataka leader opined that senior leader Sushma Swaraj, who perceived to be closer to the Reddys, should also be told about the situation. Advani himself offered to talk to her.

Advani, however, was told that there was no evidence to pin down the Reddys’ involvement in illegal mining.

It was felt that the party/government can act against the Reddys only if the Union government/Supreme Court/Lokayukta tracked down any irregularities committed by them. The Karnataka leaders later held a meeting of the state BJP core committee in which Gadkari participated. In the midst of these consultations, there were reports that the Reddys along with their confidant and fellow minister Sriramulu had arrived here.