B S Yeddyurappa may have succeeded in gathering a large crowd for his rally, but his breakfast meeting with BJP legislators and MPs supporting him, prior to the rally, fell short of his expectations.
About 22 MLAs, including seven ministers, seven MLCs and four MPs turned up at BJP MLC Shivaraj Sajjan’s residence, against Yeddyurappa’s expectation of 40 MLAs and 10 MPs. Yeddyurappa has been claiming he enjoys the support of not less than 60 MLAs and 10 MPs. This was despite Yeddyurappa personally inviting his supporters at the Suvarna Soudha in Belgaum.
The ministers who made it to the meeting are: Shobha Karandlaje, Murugesh Nirani, C M Udasi, M P Renukacharya, Revu Naik Belamagi, Basavaraj Bommai and Sunil Vallyapure. These ministers gave Yeddyurappa the much-needed strength before the rally, where he formally launched the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP).
Those who turned up at the meeting, with one or two exceptions, are said to be true loyalists of Yeddyurappa. Prominent among those who skipped the meeting are Ministers Umesh Katti and V Somanna.
On the eve of the convention, Minister C M Udasi had said that he had no invitation for the breakfast. But he was very much present at Sajjanar's residence Sunday morning, hours before Yeddyurappa began his procession to the convention.
But Yeddyurappa can draw solace from the presence of 22 MLAs, including seven ministers. The breakfast meeting allowed Yeddyurappa to take stock of the number of his staunch followers.
The KJP leader has been claiming that he does not want to embarrass the ruling BJP and hence, had asked MLAs and ministers supporting him not to participate in the Haveri rally.
Yeddyurappa was, as a result, under so much pressure to show off his strength that he had planned to parade the legislators and MPs before the media on the pretext of the breakfast meeting. With many of his loyal MLAs keeping off the meeting, he had no option, but to drop the plan.
A day before the meeting, the ruling BJP had sacked B J Puttaswamy as minister and suspended Tumkur MP G S Basavaraj from the party, sending a clear message that it will not tolerate indiscipline.
The State BJP president, K S Eshwarappa, had earlier warned that the party will not hesitate to crack the whip against those who attend the breakfast meeting. Following this, many of the Cabinet ministers loyal to Yeddyurappa, including C M Udasi, Katti and Renukacharya, decided not to turn up for the KJP launch function.
But the presence of 14 BJP MLAs on the dais at the KJP rally was something Yeddyurappa had not expected. This also gave a shot in the arm to the KJP.
The KJP leaders were expecting five MLAs to be on the dais. These were the MLAs who took part in a recent event in Bangalore, where Yeddyurappa took the KJP membership. The ruling party had said it will act against the five MLAs, if they take part in the rally.
Now the big question is: Will the BJP take strict action against the 14 MLAs?