Central leadership gets report, may summon BSY, KSE

Muralidhara Rao briefs Shah

Amid the widening differences between BJP Karnataka unit chief B S Yeddyurappa and senior leader K S Eshwarappa, the party top brass is expected to convene a meeting of the warring groups soon to resolve the crisis.

In his first account of the goings-on in Karnataka BJP unit, party’s national general secretary P Muralidhara Rao on Monday conveyed to national president Amit Shah that twin factors were behind the crisis and sought central leadership’s intervention.

Sources in the party told DH that the party top brass is expected to summon both Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa to the national capital soon and give them a stern warning. However, it is not clear whether Amit Shah will chair the meeting or he will assign the task to someone else.

First, Yeddyurappa’s soft corner towards his former party leaders like Shoba Karandlaje and, secondly, Eshwarappa’s open defiance of Yeddyurappa’s leadership had led to the current situation.

Rao, is learnt to have told Shah that several state leaders accused Yeddyurappa of giving “too much importance” to his previous Karnataka Janata Party leaders, including Karandlaje, who is now an MP from Udupi-Chikkamagalur, instead of loyal party leaders. They wanted the party’s top brass to intervene so that Yeddyurappa could be “advised” not to ignore the loyalists. Rao, who returned to the capital from Bengaluru after meeting both the sides, is learnt to have held Eshwarappa equally responsible for violating the party’s discipline by going to the media and attacking his rivals.

Those opposed to Eshwarappa wanted the central party to gag him, strongly advising him to speak only within the party forum.Rao was critical of Eshwarappa continuing his association with the Sangolli Rayanna Brigade even after the party top brass directed that no unit should function independent of the BJP in Karnataka.

Rao is learnt to have suggested that the party top brass must intervene to resolve the crisis. Yeddyurappa's camp should be told to be more accommodating towards senior leaders from all sections. A truce worked out between Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa earlier, at the behest of Shah, had come a non-cropper virtually, according to Rao.

A committee, which was set up in January after the truce, was yet to start functioning. The panel consisting of Yeddyurappa, senior leader Ravi Kumar, RSS nominee Santosh and Rao was supposed to review the BJP set-up in every district to resolve issues. But it had not held a single meeting so far.

Eshwarappa's camp conveyed to Rao that the central leadership must ask Yeddyurappa to  address the organisational issues by May 10.

Meanwhile, the Eshwarappa camp said it will organise a “save party” rally in Bengaluru under the banner of Sangolli Rayanna Brigade on May 20, if the party high command failed to redress their grievances. It was also unhappy with Rao's handling of the crisis as he appeared to be "soft" towards the Yeddyurappa camp. 

Eshwarappa remains defiant
BJP senior leader K S Eshwarappa is in a defiant mood. On Monday he declared that he would continue to be associated with Sangolli Rayanna Brigade to conduct non-political activities. He also said Muralidhar Rao, party general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, seems to be taking instructions from B S Yeddyurappa rather than implementing the direction of Party National President Amit Shah.