New Delhi/Bangalore:
Nine rebel Karnataka ministers, who had handed their resignation letters on Friday, have withdrawn them this morning giving their party, the BJP, some much-needed breathing space. The party's leadership has also reportedly bought some more time by getting rebel MLAs loyal to BS Yeddyurappa to suspend a July 5 deadline for the removal of Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda.
This after the BJP reportedly indicated that there will be no change in leadership in the state under pressure and none at all till the Presidential elections, to be held on the 19th of this month.
Much negotiation is said to have resulted in the temporary breather. The nine pro-Yeddyurappa ministers said they were withdrawing their resignations after an assurance from the central leadership that an amicable solution would be found to the Karnataka crisis - the Yeddyurappa camp wants Mr Gowda to be replaced with Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar, who is one of the nine ministers who had given resignation letters.
"We had a meeting with Mr Yeddyurappa and as per his advice and his guidance, we have decided to give a free hand to the high command, so that they can take a free and fair decision and solve the leadership crisis which has been there in Karnataka for the last week. We have decided to withdraw the resignation, all the nine members have decided to withdraw the resignation and create a very cordial and good atmosphere, so that the entire issue is solved amicably and we have Yeddyurappa's blessings on this decision," Basavaraj Bommai, one of the ministers who had resigned, said.
Mr Gowda is headed to Delhi to attend the marriage reception of BJP president Nitin Gadkari's youngest son, but is unlikely to be in mood for revelry. He has welcomed his nine ministers withdrawing their resignation, but his fate still hangs in balance. "I didn't receive any message on withdrawing the resignation from them...I requested them to withdraw their resignation...I have told them that we will sit and sort out our problems...I am going to Delhi for two purposes - one attending Nitin Gadkari's son's reception and secondly, to have a dialogue about the political crisis in the state...we should help each other and keep our differences away and work for the people. If we don't work together to solve this, then people will never vote for us again," Mr Gowda said.
About 54 MLAs had followed up the ministers' resignations by saying yesterday that they too would resign from the state Assembly by July 5 if Mr Gowda, who was handpicked by Mr Yeddyurappa to be CM last year, was not removed. Some rebel leaders will also arrive in Delhi today.
For the BJP, sources say, it is not as simple as replacing Mr Gowda with Mr Shettar. The crux of it all is that Mr Yeddyurappa, who had to step down last year, either wants to head the government, or at least control it. Sources say that top leaders believe that if Mr Yeddyurappa is cleared of corruption charges in the next few months, he is likely to again campaign for the removal whoever the CM is then and stake claim. He is the man who won the BJP its first and only southern state and remains the party's most powerful leader there. The BJP has 120 MLAs in the 225-member Karnataka Assembly. Mr Yeddyurappa claims he has the support of about 70.
Mr Yeddyurappa was forced to step down as chief minister after a report by the state's ombudsman indicted him for corruption last year. He resigned reluctantly, picking Mr Gowda as his successor and made it amply clear that he saw this as a holding operation till he cleared his name and staged a comeback. But lately, their relationship has soured, with the protege refusing to oblige his one-time mentor by stepping down. Mr Yeddyurappa's woes have grown considerably since the CBI investigation was ordered against him in illegal mining cases.
Mr Gowda is still wearing his famous wide smile and says he is confident the crisis will blow over. He has said he expects to last his term. Karnataka votes for a new Assembly in less than a year.
There were hectic efforts over the weekend to defuse the crisis. Karnataka in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan was rushed to Bangalore on Saturday after the nine pro-Yeddyurappa ministers set the stage for the latest brinkmanship by handing resignation letters to Mr Gowda on Friday. Then came the deadline for his removal. Mr Pradhan held a series of meetings with both factions at the party office in Malleswaram. The nine rebel ministers, who met Mr Pradhan for an hour, explained the reason they had resigned.
"If our
neta Yeddyurappa tells us to resign, we will. Karnataka BJP's soul is Yeddyurappa and there is no doubt about that. If they want to strengthen BJP, we have to move with Yeddyurappa. Yeddyurappa is BJP and we will do anything for BJP and Yeddyurappa," said Sanjay Patil, a Yeddyurappa loyalist.
To complicate matters, MLAs loyal to Mr Gowda too reportedly told Mr Pradhan on Saturday that they will resign if the CM is replaced. The central leadership has, for the umpteenth time, told Mr Yeddyurappa to be patient and asked both factions in the state to be disciplined.