JOIN USBJP still looking for right formula
The day began with a breakfast meeting at senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu’s house where Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, BJP president D V Sadananda Gowda and others were present and explained the current political situation. This was followed by the chief minister’s meeting with Sushma Swaraj.
Soon after the chief minister’s meeting with Venkaiah Naidu, Tourism Minister Janardhna Reddy drove to Naidu’s residence and closeted with him for more than half an hour.
Reddy, who is spearheading the campaign for the CM’s ouster, rejected the talks offer. He told reporters “what ever I want to tell, the same has been conveyed to the central leadership. No question of meeting the chief minister.”
Top BJP leaders Ananth Kumar, Arun Jaitely, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and RSS leader Ram Lal joined in BJP national president Rajnath Singh’s house for lunch and discussed the issue. They also summoned Yeddyurappa to the meeting and took his view.
Emerging out of the meeting, Rajnath Singh expressed confidence of solving the crisis at the earliest. He also ruled out change of leadership. “There is no proposal before the party to replace the chief minister,” he said.
Reddy also attended a meeting at Venkaiah Naidu’s house where Ananth Kumar, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were present. This was followed by another meeting at L K Advani’s house which all the senior leaders including Yeddyurappa attended. Though the CM refused to speak to the media, Venkaiah Naidu said the issue would be sorted out within two or three days.
“We are talking to all. Soon a solution will be found,” he said. Late in the night, another rebel leader Jagadeesh Shettar also went to Venkaiah Naidu’s house and held a meeting with Ananth Kumar and Sushma Swaraj. Yeddyurappa left for an undisclosed location with his close confidants.