'BSY reinstatement chances bleak'

BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday dropped sufficient hints that the party was not keen on meeting former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s “alternative demand” to make him the State president at this juncture.

Yeddyurappa has been at times discretely pushing his Plan B through his loyalists that he be made the party chief, if not the chief minister.

“The State unit of the party will decide who it wants as the State president after the completion of the term of the incumbent. When the time comes, people will take a call,” she told Deccan Herald.

K S Eshwarappa’s three-year term as the State BJP president ends only in January next year.On Sadananda Gowda continuing as chief minister till the run-up to the next Assembly elections, Sitharaman said party national president Nitin Gadkari had already made his stand clear on the issue. “He is the chief minister.. and he will continue. After all, we are answerable to the people of the State,” she said.

The March 3 meeting, scheduled to be held in New Delhi, will address all issues in the party and resolve them, she said. “The central leadership will discuss whatever differences that may exist among the stakeholders in the party. Hopefully, all issues will be resolved. This is the first and immediate step,” Sitharaman said.

Asked if the party has finalised any options to be placed before Yeddyurappa, Sitharaman said, “No options are readily available.”

To a question on how the party, which claims to follow principles and ideology, would respond to at least 10 of its ministers resigning following various charges against them, Sitharaman said the BJP had always been transparent in its functioning. “While I am not justifying what has happened, the BJP is completely open in choosing its leaders, setting its agenda, among others. We take action when something goes wrong. We readily submit ourselves to any kind of questioning, public perception and inquiry,” she said, asserting that the party was indeed “different” when its came to functioning and intra-party democracy.

Sitharaman gave credit to the State BJP for meeting the aspirations of the people and achieving progress in fulfilling the promises made in the party’s election manifesto. Having installed its first government in South India, the State BJP came out with “out-of-the-box” ideas like presenting a separate agriculture budget and innovative schemes like Bhagyalakshmi, she said.

“The Congress is playing politics in the BJP-ruled states. Despite concerted efforts being made by the State government to address the electricity crisis, the Centre has failed to allocate coal linkages. The State Congress has done nothing about this. I would hold it up equally against the Opposition for these deterrents. The Opposition parties, instead of playing a constructive role, have only been disruptive,” she said.