Pradhan holds parleys with BSY

Post HC verdict, central leadership seeks time to assess situation

BJP General Secretary and in-charge of Karnataka affairs Dharmendra Pradhan arrived in the City on Saturday to assess the political scenario in the party following the Karnataka High Court verdict that cleared former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa of corruption charges made in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.

According to party sources, soon after his arrival in Bangalore, Pradhan and National Joint Organising Secretary V Satish met Yeddyurappa and held discussions with him at the latter’s residence.

Pradhan is understood to have conveyed to Yeddyurappa that assessment of the legal and political impact of the court verdict would require time and requested the BJP leader to be patient. Buoyed by the court verdict, Yeddyurappa had been making a renewed bid with the party central leadership to reinstate him as the chief minister.

Pradhan’s discussion with Yeddyurappa also comes on the eve of the convention being organised by the latter’s loyalists in Hubli.

No more fissures

It is learnt that the central leadership does not want the convention to further widen the fissures in the party. They want the State leaders to work unitedly and ensure victory of the BJP candidate in the bypoll to the Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency, Pradhan reportedly told Yeddyurappa.

Besides, the budget session of the State legislature would commence from March 20 and any political uncertainity at this juncture would be suicidal for the party and government.

Pradhan is likely to meet other stakeholders in the party, including Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and BJP State president K S Eshwarappa, before leaving for New Delhi to brief the party central leadership on the present state of affairs in the State BJP.

Pradhan is likely to attend the Hubli convention on Sunday as a representative of party president Nitin Gadkari.

Yeddyurappa’s loyalists had invited Gadkari to attend the convention.But neither Yeddyurappa nor Pradhan offered any comments to the media.

Only a matter of time: Yeddyurappa

According to sources close to Yeddyurappa, the BJP leader is getting increasingly restless and is openly speaking about toppling the Sadananda Gowda government.

He is said to have told several legislators that Gowda should not be allowed to present the State budget. The budget is scheduled to be presented on March 21.

On Saturday, he is understood to have told his loyalists that it is only a matter of time before he quit the BJP.

In a way, Yeddyurappa is testing the waters before taking a decision to float a new party. However, many legislators have already indicated to Yeddyurappa that they are not in a position to support him if he quits the BJP. The fear of being isolated by his own loyalists and left without a party base has been preventing Yeddyurappa from taking any drastic decisions.