BJP top brasses in Karnataka to save Yeddyurappa government

The brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today swung into action to defuse the political crisis gripping the party in Karnataka. Senior party leaders M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar today arrived here to broker peace between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the 14 dissident legislators.

On Wednesday, 19 MLAs –14 BJP and five independent – had withdrawn support to the first BJP government in South India, reducing the BJP’s strength to 103 in the 225-member assembly.

The legislature party meeting of the ruling BJP is going on at a resort. Efforts to pacify the dissident leaders intensified, with state ministers Janardhan Reddy and B Sriramulu holding parleys with the various factions at a hotel in Goa, where rebels are camping.

While the BJP reiterated its claim that the troubled Yeddyurappa government would survive the no-confidence motion, senior party leaders have threatened the dissidents that the party could take strict action against them if they don’t fall in line.

“The problem in Karnataka would soon be resolved, but the dissident MLAs should not forget that they had won the assembly elections on BJP’s symbol. The party can use the anti-defection law and they can also lose their party membership,” said Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, party spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Yeddyurappa shunted two more ministers out of his ministry this morning. The dropped ministers are Anand Asnotikar and Balachandra Jarkiholi. Both are among the 19 legislators who had withdrawn support to the government.

The damage control exercise launched by the BJP has yielded limited results, with the return of two dissident legislators into the party fold.

The chief minister, who went to Kerala to offer a special puja to goddess Raja Rajeshwari in Kannur, has returned to Bangalore and is participating in the legislature party meeting. He plans to move a confidence motion in the Assembly to prove his majority on October 11, a day before the deadline set by the Governor.