ANTIQUES SHOPS

The first major effort by the central leadership of the BJP to placate former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa after the CBI raid on his residences made little progress with the leader continuing his tirade against Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, on Friday, even as senoir leader Arun Jaitley put off his visit to the city as he wanted others to gauge the mood of the former chief minister.

The task of pacifying the leader was left to the man in-charge of Karnataka affairs Dharmendra Pradhan, and RSS representatives to the party, G. Satish and Santosh.

Over two rounds of discussions at BSY’s Dollar’s Colony home, hours after he inaugurated his new office, the former chief minister complained about the CM’s treatment of his supporters. Mr Pradhan has reportedly conveyed the crux of his inconclusive talks with BSY to the state party chief K S Eshwarappa when they met on Friday night.

Mr Yeddyurappa also vent his ire against senior central leaders of BJP for not keeping their word on appointing him president of the state unit of the party, on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating his new office, Mr Yeddyurappa said, “The BJP central leaders had promised to make me party president, but failed to keep their promise. I opened my new office to hear the grievances of party workers and people, as the person at the helm of affairs ignored their grievances.”

Mr Yeddyurappa’s die-hard supporter and Harihar MLA B.P. Harish said, “So far, he has not disclosed his future political moves. The opening of new office does not mean he will quit BJP soon. After gauging public opinion during his state-wide tour, our leader will take a decision. But one thing is clear – a majority of MLAs feel that without the leadership of Mr Yeddyurappa, they cannot win in next year’s Assembly elections. So he is confident that after three months, the party MLAs will join his team.”

His supporters moved swiftly to remove photographs of Congress president in order to avoid a controversy. However, those of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, erstwhile Jan Sangh founders Shyam Prakash Mukherjee, Jagannatha Rao Joshi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajapayee still adorn the walls.

Interestingly, BJP patriarch L.K. Advani’s photo was missing in the new premises.

Not the one to miss an opportunity to hit the party most where it hurts most, Mr Yeddyurappa invited a BJP worker from Mysore district, belonging to the Scheduled Caste, to inaugurate his new office on a day when the state unit organized a Scheduled Caste convention in Mysore.

Even as the state party leaders headed to Mysore for the SC rally, supporters of the former CM, mostly from his hometown Shikaripur, Harihar, Chennagiri and Yelahanka, thronged his new office on 17th Cross, Malleswaram.

‘Ouster of BSY will spell doom’

Mincing no words, ministers loyal to the former chief minister told the BJP and RSS that the party will have no future without Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa and warned it against taking any action against their leader.

Mr C.M. Udasi and Basavaraj Bommai and other “loyalist” ministers told party state president K.S. Eshwarappa that the party will fade away if it initiates action against Mr Yeddyurappa. But the ministers were not sure whether they would be treated with respect once in the absence of Mr Yeddyurappa.

“If the party could ill-treat Jagadish Shettar by keeping him out of the decision-making process, do you think it would allow us to grow in the absence of Mr Yeddyurappa,” sources in the BSY camp questioned.

The BSY loyalists said they would not resign from the cabinet if the BJP evicts Mr Yeddyurappa or he walks out of the party. But they will start a rebellion remaining within the party fold.

The ministers warned that the Lingayats will not come back to the BJP if Mr Yeddyurappa walks out. “Even if the party props up someone, the Lingayats in north Karnataka will neither accept the new face nor will they condone the party for removing Mr Yeddyurappa,” they told Mr Eshwarappa.