Be patient, don't malign the party, says BJP to Yeddyurappa

Bangalore:  The BJP says that it is considering the demand made rather aggressively by BS Yeddurappa to be reinstated as Chief Minister of Karnataka. "We are a democratic party but we do not take decisions under pressure. We will come to the right decision and I would advise Mr Yeddyurappa to be patient and not do anything to malign the party," said the party president Nitin Gadkari today. Mr Yedyurappra earlier today allegedly rejected an offer to fly to Nagpur for peace talks.

Instead, the rebel leader is focussed on a five-star resort on the outskirts of Bangalore which has emerged as his centre of power. Here, 67 of the party's 120 MLAs are parked in a show of loyalty to Mr Yeddyurappa. Their camp is a clear message from Mr Yeddyurappra that unless he is reinstated as chief minister, the BJP could see a split in its Karnataka branch. 10 MPs from the BJP have also threatened to resign in support Mr Yeddyurappa.

Mr Yeddyurappa's group is demanding a legislature party meeting at which it can demonstrate its numbers. An additional pressure tactic lies in the fact that the dissidents are fielding their own candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections - Yeddyurappa loyalist B J Puttaswamy - in addition to the party's official candidates.

In July, Mr Yeddyurappa was forced by the BJP to quit office after a report on illegal mining indicted him for corruption. Last week, a court dismissed those charges. Mr Yeddyurappa says that's ground enough for his return to power.

But the man who was hand-picked by Mr Yeddyurappa as his successor, Sadananda Gowda, is reportedly unwilling to quit office. He said today that he is focussing on his job, and will respect whatever decision is taken by Mr Gadkari. One of the reasons why Mr Yeddyurappra has isolated his supporters at a hotel is to ensure the current chief minister cannot influence or woo them.

Mr Yeddyurappa and his family and he are accused of graft in other cases for buying land reserved for public use at bargain prices, allegedly made possible by Mr Yeddyurappa when he was chief minister. He was jailed in October last year for those cases and spent nearly a month in jail.

"After the HC order we are thinking about this. We are a democratic party but we do not take decisions under pressure. We will come to the right decision and I would advise Mr Yeddyurappa to be patient and not do anything to malign the party."

"Even earlier after the Lok Ayukta order we had replaced Yeddyurappa even though we had some reservations about it."

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