Yeddyurappa comes under party top brass’ radar

Upset with BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa's statement linking India's airstrikes on terror camps in Pakistan with BJP's prospects in Lok Sabha polls, the party's top brass on Thursday pulled him up and forced him to issue a clarification.

With the opposition parties and netizens attacking the BJP for politicising the military action against the terrorists, the BJP senior leaders called up Yeddyurappa in the morning and told him to issue a clarification immediately.

Claiming that Yeddyurappa's statement damaged the BJP, a senior leader said the party already instructed all its senior leaders and spokespersons to speak very carefully since the issue was very sensitive.

The party top brass also told Yeddyurappa as to how his statement had become a issue for Pakistani politicians to target India.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh also criticised Yeddyurappa for his statement.

"@BSYBJPji, I beg to differ. We stand as one nation, action taken by our government is to safeguard our nation & ensure safety of our citizens, not to win a few extra seats," Singh tweeted.

He tagged a video link of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's speech in Parliament, stressing on unity among parties in times of national distress.

Earlier also, the BJP top brass had pulled up the Lingayat leader for 'Operation Lotus,' in which he was directly involved, to lure Congress and JD(S) MLAs to the BJP. The party top brass had expressed unhappiness saying that the state leadership caused embarrassment to the party at the national level by engaging in unwanted activities, instead of preparing for the Lok Sabha elections.