No leadership change in Karnataka, says Rajnath

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh today held a meeting with senior party leaders here to resolve the ongoing crisis in Karnataka but ruled out a change of leadership in the state after dissident leader Janardhana Reddy refused to meet Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

At the centre of the tussle in the Karnataka BJP is the perceived power wielded by the mining lobby of the Bellary area, led by the Reddy brothers — Janardhana and Karunakara — who want Assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar to be the chief minister. However, with the party high command sending the message that the chief ministership is non-negotiable, efforts were on to placate the dissident brothers. Yeddyurappa, meanwhile, is slated to return to Bangalore on Friday but his supporters said his departure could be delayed.

Rajnath Singh held a meeting with senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar. Earlier, both Yeddyurappa and Reddy held separate one-to-one meetings with Naidu.

After his meeting with Naidu, Reddy refused to meet Yeddyurappa, who had expressed readiness to meet the rebels in an effort to end the impasse.

At this stage, Swaraj intervened and made it clear to her proteges — the Reddy brothers — that a leadership change in the state was not possible. However, she did reason with them and the indications are that some of the administrative steps taken by the chief minister, including the transfers of several bureaucrats, could be reversed.

Swaraj later met Yeddyurappa to discuss steps that would help bridge the differences between him and the other disaffected MLAs.

Rajnath Singh also played a role. The BJP president has no particular affection for Yeddyurappa since the latter defied him the last time around and rushed in to form a government in Karnataka with the support of the Janata Dal-Secular in 2007.

On that occasion, Yeddyurappa was chief minister for precisely a week. However, the high command, including Singh, resisted the temptation of switching chief ministers, after listening to neutral observers.