Bangalore and New Delhi:
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
So as his government in Karnataka skids towards a minority, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa toured temples; senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu was deployed to Bangalore to handle the crisis; and the rebel BJP MLAs who're causing the crisis city-hopped from Chennai to Kochi to Mumbai and then Goa. All in 36 hours.
First, the BJP. 14 of its MLAs have told the Governor they no longer support the BJP government because it is riddled with corruption. Yesterday, along with 5 independent MLAs, they said they were opting out. They cite corruption. But the real provocation is a recent cabinet reshuffle, in which some of them lost their posts.
One of the BJP MLAs who had rebelled has since returned to the fold. So that leaves 18 MLAs who're now in Goa and have the power to bring down the 28-month-old government.
Without them, Yeddyurappa's numbers in the Legislative Assembly falls well below the half-way mark of 113. The Governor has told him to prove his majority before October 12. Expressing his confidence at surviving this crisis, the Chief Minister said he plans to ask for a trust vote on October 11.
(Watch: Will expand cabinet, says Yeddyurappa)
Venkaiah Naidu blames the Congress. "In the recent by-election, the Congress has been relegated to third position just 15 days back and still they haven't learnt lessons and they are trying to do all these murky things and they are behind this," he accused.
Worried about its own men switching sides, the Congress is treating 50 of its MLAs to a resort outside Bangalore.
(Read: BJP rushes Venkiah Naidu to firefight) After a visit to a Kannur temple, Yeddyurappa said, "We are hopeful that rebel MLAs will return, and that all issues will be sorted out."
Whether that translates into reality will depend largely on the man believed to be the puppeteer of the current crisis - former chief minister and opposition leader HD Kumaraswamy. When asked about whether he had nudged the BJP revolt, he said the dissidence was entirely of Yeddyurappa's making. But in the last few weeks, Kumaraswamy, who heads the JD(S), has publicly charged Yeddyurappa with using his office to help his sons buy prized property at throwaway rates. Privately, many say, he has been colluding with BJP MLAs and independent MLAs to quit the government.
The corollary to the BJP's nightmare is whether the Congress and the JD(s) will be able to combine forces to form a government, if they can topple Yeddyurappa's.
(Watch: JD(S) indulging in horse trading, says Karnataka Home Minister)
THE BJP STRIKES BACKAs it tries to skid away from its political morass, the BJP is alternately cajoling and threatening the rebels who say they've had enough.
The party has made it clear that Yeddyurappa will not be replaced. But, MLAs are being offered posts as ministers (Yeddyurappa promised yesterday to expand his cabinet soon) and chairmanships of state corporations.
For those not sufficiently charmed, the party will formally begin disqualification proceedings against them before Monday's trust vote on grounds of "anti-party activities." The idea is to have them knocked out before the vote, so that the overall strength of the house, and therefore the halfway mark the government has to cross, will be reduced.