Fissures deepen in Karnataka BJP

The internal bickerings in the Karnataka BJP unit took a turn for the worse with senior leader Mukhyamantri Chandru dashing off a letter to the national leaders seeking a probe into charges levelled by former Union minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal against deputy chief minister B S Yediyurappa.

Chandru, who heads the party's disciplinary committee in the state, in his letter to BJP president Rajnath Singh, has said that the allegations made by Yatnal were of serious nature and necessitated an inquiry.

"Yatnal has raised issues concerning the prospects of the state BJP and its leaders. His allegations against Yediyurappa were fuelled by his personal experiences as well as that of his supporters," he added.

Yatnal, who launched a verbal assault on Yediyurappa last week, had sought the deputy chief minister's ouster. He had accused Yediyurappa of nepotism. This development led to the resignation of Yediyurappa on Thursday evening.

However, late in the night, he withdrew his resignation following the intervention of RSS leaders. Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy reportedly also prevailed upon Yediyurappa on the issue.

Chandru and Yatnal, who belong to the Ananthkumar camp in the state BJP, are known for their animosity towards Yediyurappa. Both were against the formation of the Janata Dal (S) and BJP coalition government in the state.

Chandru was tipped to become a minister in the cabinet, but lost out eventually. Similarly, many of Ananthkumar's supporters did not find a place in the cabinet.

Since then, the differences between the two camps have been on the rise. The matter reached a flashpoint last week when Yatnal sought the resignation of Yediyurappa.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Yediyurappa sought to downplay the incident. He even denied having tendered his resignation.

"It is true that I am hurt by the comments made by a section of the BJP leadership. I have brought this to the notice of the party's national leaders. It is for them to take appropriate action. I will continue as the deputy chief minister," he added.

On Yatnal's charge, Yediyurappa replied, "I do not want to say anything at this juncture. I have built the party up from scratch in this state. Dissidence is common to all parties. It will be tackled within the party forum," he said.