BSY loyalists do balancing act

As many as 43 of the total 118 BJP MLAs turned up for the luncheon meeting called by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa at his residence in the city on Tuesday.

However, Yeddyurappa’s supporters did not express their wish to quit the BJP immediately to join the Karnataka Janata Party, to be launched by their leader on December 10.

C M Udasi, Basavaraj Bommai, M P Renukacharya, Revu Naik Belamagi, Sunil Vallyapur, Shobha Karandlaje, Umesh Katti, B J Puttaswamy, Murgesh Nirani and V Somanna were the ministers who were present at the meeting.

None of the legislators, including the ministers, are ready to lose their positions before the elections next year. They favoured the continuation of the Jagadish Shettar-led government until elections. However, they expressed their solidarity with their leader.

The legislators, who are well aware that the Central leaders are making efforts to somehow retain Yeddyurappa in the BJP, neither antagonised the former chief minister nor made any remarks against the party.

Thirteen MLCs and nine of the 18 BJP MPs were present at the four-hour-long meeting. The Yeddyurappa camp claimed that 55 MLAs attended the meeting. But the media showed only 43 MLAs had made it.

While the loyalists stated that they were ready to abide by any decision taken by Yeddyurappa, they were not specific on attending the December 10 rally to be organised by the former chief minister in Haveri, where the new party would be launched.

Public Works Minister C M Udasi told reporters, “We will take a decision at an appropriate time”. Another Yeddyurappa loyalist, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai, said, “Time will be a witness to our decision”.

Sources said the legislators are sure that the BJP will not take disciplinary action against them, even if they attend the Haveri rally, because the party does not want to lose its numbers in the Assembly.

According to sources, the Yeddyurappa loyalists do not want to antagonise the former chief minister at this point of time as they are apprehensive that he will pull down the government.