"The governor has insulted the chief minister and there is no need for Yeddyurappa to apologise to him. Bhardwaj should apologise to the people for this," state BJP president K S Eswarappa said at an election rally here.
Eshwarappa said if the governor fails to do so, the party would chalk out protest programmes against him after the September 13 bypolls to two assembly constituencies.
Eshwarappa's outburst came in response to a strongly worded letter from Bhardwaj to Yeddyurappa on September 8, accusing him of using intemperate language against him over the illegal mining issue and demanding his apology.
Yeddyurappa, responding to the governor's letter denied having made any comment against Bhardwaj over the Lokayukta report on illegal mining and said the reference was to his predecessor Rameshwar Thakur.
Bhardwaj had cited some newspaper reports, attributing certain remarks to Yeddyurappa on Lokayukta's recommendations on recovery of money from former chief minister N Dharam Singh in a matter relating to mine leasing during his term.
Yeddyurappa had said reports that he had targetted Bhardwaj were far from the truth and clarified that he had only referred to his predecessor Rameshwar Thakur.
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