No deadline, BSY's threat only headline, says Ananth Kumar

The BJP on Thursday dismissed KJP president B S Yeddyurappa setting January 4 as the D-day to decide on the future of the State government, as mere theatrics.

The BJP leaders, at the Bangalore district unit convention at the Palace Grounds, took the former chief minister head-on, stating that the State government would not only complete its full term, but will also present a popular budget, irrespective of the deadlines set by Yeddyurappa.

“These deadlines will only remain as paper headlines,” BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar quipped at the convention.

On Thursday, Yeddyurappa, claiming that he has enough loyalist MLAs in the BJP to pull down the government, had said he would decide his next step of action on January 4.
Prospects in Bangalore

Though the BJP is trying to put a brave face in public, party insiders point out that it is worried about its prospects in Bangalore. The stakes are high for the BJP as the State capital elected 18 party MLAs from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike limits to the Assembly in the 2008 polls.

The competition might not come directly from the KJP, but the overall image of the party has taken a beating over the last five years, they feel.

Yeddyurappa’s exit and the nearing elections have also brought about a new found unity in the party’s city unit. Ananth Kumar said the party will present a popular budget to the people next year.

The BJP had ushered in more progress for Bangalore during the last five years than what could be achieved by other parties in the last 50 years, he claimed. Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka blamed the Congress for making a mountain of a mole hill over the garbage issue for political gains.

He said the BJP was not a personality based party and its worker base was its strength.
Former minister D B Chandre Gowda said no individual could destabilise the present government.

Shettar rubbishes BSY’s threat

Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Thursday ruled out his resignation or dissolution of Legislative Assembly following threat from his predecessor B S Yeddyurappa that his followers would withdraw support to the BJP government on January 4, reports DHNS from New Delhi.

“Is there any minister or MLA who has said he / she has no confidence in me? As long as I have confidence of the MLAs and enjoy a majority, there is no question of quitting,” Shettar told Deccan Herald here on Thursday.

Asked if he would resign if any Yeddyurappa supporter quits, the chief minister remarked, “let them do so first.”

He said he would not react to the deadline set by Yeddyurappa or the reported statement of JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda offering support to Congress in case of a ‘no confidence move’ against the government in the Assembly.

Shettar noted that the Government conducted a smooth session of the Legislature at Belgaum and got several important Bills passed. “It shows I enjoy majority. What more proof you want?,” he said.