BJP  `power’ crisis continues as Reddys firm on Yeddy’s ouster
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bangalore, Nov 3: The political crisis dogging the ruling BJP for almost two weeks now remains unresolved as the dissident group led by the Bellary mining barons led by the all-powerful Reddy brothers refuse to budge from their demand for the ouster of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and replace him with their chosen leader Jagadish Shettar to gain political power.

Barring Yeddyurappa and some of his close followers, including cabinet ministers, most of the key figures in the state BJP and the government have been camping in Delhi. National BJP general secretary and former union minister Anant Kumar, state BJP president D V Sadananda Gowda, tourism minister G Janardhana Reddy, state assembly speaker Jagadish Shettar and energy minister K S Eshwarappa along with their supporters are now in Delhi holding parleys with the saffron high command to further their narrow partisan interests.

After the failure of the trouble-shooting mission of BJP’s ace strategist Arun Jaitely, who is also the party’s opposition leader in rajya sabha, in Bangalore and the shifting of the negotiations to Delhi, BJP national president Rajnath Singh, lok sabha opposition leader L K Advani, senior leader Venkaiah Naidu and Sushma Swaraj, who is Advani’s deputy leader in the lok sabha, have been spending their time and energies in holding talks with all the factional leaders in a bid to find a solution.

Though the national BJP leaders are optimistic of finding an amicable solution and putting an end to the crisis ``in a day or two,’’ the dissident leader Janardhana Reddy, who spoke to Sushma Swaraj for over two hours on Tuesday, declared: ``We are firm in our demand for a change of leadership. In the interest of the state, the party and its workers, we need a strong and responsive leadership. There is no question of budging from our stand.’’

``We have conveyed the feelings of the legislators and party workers to the party leadership. We are confident that the party high command will positively respond to our demands,’’ he said and contended that the national BJP president had ``not ruled out change of leadership.’’

``The reported comments are nothing but lies and creation of the media,’’ he said explaining that Rajanath Singh had said the change of leadership could not be taken in a few hours. ``All that Rajanath Singh had said was `bilkul, bilkul’ (definitely, definitely) when he was asked to give his reaction on the leadership issue. How does it mean continuation of Yeddyurappa,’’ he said pointing out that the media had ``misinterpreted’’ the word `bilkul’ to mean ruling out the chief minister’s continuation.

To a question whether they (dissidents) will agree to a compromise if some ministers were dropped without change of leadership, Reddy said: ``That question does not arise.’’

Meanwhile, the chief minister, who launched the ``Asare’’ programme in Bijapur district with union law minister and former chief minister M Veerappa Moily as the chief guest,  has convened a meeting of the state cabinet on November 6.

Moily applauded the resolve of the chief minister to take up rehabilitation work on a war-footing by raising resources from all sources. ``We are ready to extend whatever help that is necessary from the Centre,’’ he said.

Yeddyurappa has also indicated that he would personally tour all the constituencies, whose MLAs were enjoying the five-star comforts in Hyderabad, Goa or in Delhi ignoring the plight of the flood-affected people, if they did not return to attend to the task of supervising the rehabilitation works by November 6.
Janardhana Reddy’s elder brother and revenue minister G Karunakar Reddy, who returned to Bangalore from Delhi after his brother reached the national capital for continuing the parleys, reviewed the rehabilitation work in 12 districts by holding a video-conference with Deputy Commissioners on Tuesday, said that the shifting of villages and rehabilitation works was mainly the responsibility of his Department.

"There is no confusion about rehabilitation. My priorities are clear,’’ he said talking to reporters after the review meeting when he sought to play down the role of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) and Public Works departments in shifting of villages and the rehabilitation work in flood devastated north Karnataka districts.

Deputy Commissioners of Raichur, Bidar, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Bellary, Koppal, Dharwad, Bagalkote, Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada, and Chitradurga districts participated in the video conferencing conducted by Karunakar Reddy, who issued directions for acquiring lands in 10 days for shifting of villages.
A total of 270 villages, including 130 partially, would be shifted from river basins to safer places, he said pointing out that several donors, including software firms and miners, have come forwarded for construction of houses.

Reddy said the Revenue Department has gathered the information about crop loss, and damages to houses, buildings and bridges. Almost all deputy commissioners have sought additional funds for taking up rehabilitation works and land acquisition for construction of houses.

The Bagalkote district has sought Rs 49 crore, Raichur - Rs. 50 crore , Gadag – Rs. 12 crore, Gulbarga – Rs. 75 crore, Dharwad – Rs. 30 crore, Davanagere – Rs. 58 crore, Haveri – Rs. 50 crore, Bidar – Rs. 18 crore, and Koppal district Rs. 65 crore for repairing roads, bridges, and rehabilitation work, Reddy said.

Asked about party MLAs remaining absent from their constituencies for the last several days, he said officials have been supervising all works in rain-hit areas. ``The MLAs will also return to the constituencies,’’ he said pointing out that an effective and responsive government was also equally important if the rehabilitation work was to be properly implemented.

The elder Reddy, however, feigned total ignorance of the meeting convened by Chief Minister for preparing proposal on providing basic infrastructure in flood hit districts.

In a related development, state law and parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Kumar, a staunch loyalist of the chief minister, has written a personal letter to all his ministerial colleagues underscoring the need for taking up their responsibilities to the people and the state seriously.

"If we don’t mend our ways, the people teach us a bitter lesson. We have to learn from similar situations in the past, when legislators of the ruling party’s indulged in factional infighting neglecting their duties and responsibilities and rejected by the people,’’ he said in his letter.

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