NDTV Correspondent, Monday November 2, 2009, New Delhi
The crisis in Karnataka's BJP has worsened as talks between rebel Karnataka leader Janardhan Reddy and the BJP failed today. The party is now looking to LK Advani to resolve the crisis.
Earlier today, the the action had shifted to Delhi. The BJP tried to end the battle that threatens its only government in the South.
It's the chief minister vs the rebel Reddy brothers, who're mining barons and ministers in the cabinet. Janardhan and Karunakara Reddy claim that they're tired of chief minister Yeddyurappa's dictatorial ways. But in this confrontation, as with several in the past, what the Reddy brothers may really be concerned about are their business interests.
What makes the war a more complicated one is that the BJP's central leadership has also taken sides. Party president Rajnath Singh and the BJP's parent body, the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) reportedly support the chief minister. Senior leader L K Advani and his followers, meanwhile, are backing the Reddys. BJP sources say the Advani camp may support Speaker Jagdish Shettar as the next Chief Minister.
Arun Jaitley, who was sent to Karnataka last week, returned without managing a truce. The BJP government in Karnataka spun into a crisis after the Reddy brothers, Janardhana and Karunakara Reddy, demanded Chief Minister B S Yeddyrurappa's ouster, claiming they have the support of 60 of the BJP's 117 MLAs.
However, Yeddyurappa supporters have told the BJP top brass that their own numbers are signficant. "There will be no change in leadership in Karnataka. We have conveyed to the party leaders," said Sadanand Gowda, BJP Karnataka president.
The Reddy bothers and the chief minister have fought repeatedly in the last few months. This latest crisis began after the chief minister introduced new taxes on all trucks, as part of an initiative to raise money for flood relief work. The move hits the Reddy brothers hard, because of the materials their companies move for their mining empire. The Reddys retaliated by launching their own flood relief work in their home turf of Bellary.
The chief minister, who visited Delhi on Sunday says, "There are no differences in Karnataka BJP."
Nobody's buying that line. But one thing seems certain, Yeddyurappa's authority is set to decline, something that may disappoint Karnataka's powerful Lingayat caste and please the Congress.
Yeddyurappa apologises
Amid reports that many BJP MLAs from flood-hit areas in North Karnataka were preoccupied with dissident activities in resorts and hotels, ignoring the plight of those affected, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday apologised to the people and vowed to work for them.
"In the backdrop of the happenings, as Chief Minister, I apologise to the people of the state. We will take care to see such incidents don't take place in future and will work unitedly for the people's welfare," he told reporters here.
His comments come in the wake of reports that many MLAs and ministers loyal to rebel ministers from Bellary district - G Karunakara Reddy, G Janardhana Reddy and B Sreeramulu - seeking Yeddyurappa's ouster, camped in Hyderabad and Goa, when they should have been attending to grievances of people, suffering after the recent unprecedented floods.
The BJP, now at the cross-roads, has a golden opportunity to makeover its identity by stressing on two of its greatest legacies from RSS - Hindutva and anti-corruption. By not buckling to the corrupt and anti-Hindutva Bellary money-bags aligned with evangelist Jagan Reddy of AP, the BJP will have shown that it is not ready to compromise on the two issues that India is most threatened with - anti-national forces and a corrupt administration. Therefore BJP, even if has to be in the opposition, must go against the Reddy brothers and all such corrupt and anti-Hindutva elements. BJP, thereby, will catch the imagination of the nation.
http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/bjps_karnataka_crisis_shifts_to_delhi.php?page=1#postcommentarea
No comments:
Post a Comment