Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and State President K S Eshwarappa are understood to have decided not to respond to comments made by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa or his followers.

The duo met for about an hour at Gowda’s official residence in Bangalore on Monday. This is the first meeting between the two leaders after Eshwarappa came under fire from Yeddyurappa and the mounting pressure by latter’s supporters on Gowda to step down as chief minister.

Eshwarappa, according to sources close to him, is understood to have told Gowda not to counter Yeddyurappa’s tirades. The focus should be on administration and effective governance. This is also the advice of the BJP central leadership as well as the RSS, he reportedly told the chief minister.

Yeddyurappa had recently charged Eshwarappa of hatching a conspiracy to dethrone him from the post of chief minister and being responsible for sending him to jail.

Yeddyurappa has been lobbying for a suitable position ever since he was removed from the post of chief minister in August last year on corruption charges. He even sent three Cabinet ministers - Shobha Karandlaje, R Ashoka and Murgesh Nirani to New Delhi to take up his cause with party leaders. All three ministers were advised not to precipitate the matter by indulging in mud slinging.

Speaking to reporters, Eshwarappa said he was leaving for Andhra Pradesh to participate in a party programme in Chittoor and Kadri and had decided to meet the CM as he would be out of town for a couple of days. He is also said to have advised minister Balachandra Jarkiholi and his group of 20 legislators to shelve their plans to go to Delhi to complain against Yeddyurappa and charging him of trying to dislodge Sadananda Gowda.