Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa to meet MLAs while dissent grows within BJP

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will line up meetings with legislators to hear them out, even as disgruntlement appears to be flaring up within the BJP over the way the administration is functioning.

That the chief minister should meet MLAs was decided at the BJP's core committee that met Saturday. "The CM will hold district-wise meetings with MLAs to discuss problems in their constituencies. The meetings will be held during the ongoing legislature session," BJP leader Aravind Limbavali told reporters.

The core committee's decision, however, looks like a fallout of the BJP legislature party meeting that was held Thursday night where MLAs poured their heart out with complaints against the administration and the alleged interference of Yediyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra, who has been dubbed as the 'Super CM'.

In fact, a section of unhappy legislators had sought an appointment to meet BJP national president J P Nadda, who was in Bengaluru, on Saturday. The legislators, who included Umesh Katti, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Murugesh Nirani, were asked by Nadda to meet him in New Delhi on March 17, sources said.

At the legislature party meeting, an anonymous letter that went viral recently - it was a letter that urged Yediyurappa to retire and criticised Vijayendra's growing clout - was hotly discussed, it is said. Apparently, when the CM's political secretary M P Renukacharya sought action against those behind the letter, some MLAs preferred rather to discuss the contents of the letter. Some 20 MLAs are said to have expressed displeasure over the administration and that works related to their constituencies were not happening.

Disgruntlement has been brewing for quite some time. According to sources, when a senior MLA met the chief minister with a letter in connection with some constituency-related work, he was asked to go meet Vijayendra instead. In another instance, when a legislator sought Rs 5 crore for his constituency, the chief minister dismissed it citing lack of funds.

"Those who have slogged for the party are not getting any recognition. When we go see the chief minister seeking funds for constituency development, we're being pointed to Vijayendra. How long do we tolerate this," a legislator asked.