Bangalore: On a mission to resolve the latest crisis starring the BJP Government, the central party leadership’s emissary Dharmendra Pradhan today asked the nine Ministers loyal to B S Yeddyurappa to withdraw their resignations which has thrown the D V Sadananda Ministry into a turmoil.
“I ask all nine ministers to withdraw their resignations to pave the way to resolve the leadership issue,” Pradhan, in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka, told reporters at the state RSS headquarters before leaving for New Delhi.
Pradhan said he would apprise the party central leadership of the consultations he held with the two warring factions of Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and his predecessor Yeddyurappa who is insisting on a change of guard.
He said he was hopeful that the party central leadership would resolve the issue. “I will discuss with central leaders and hope a good decision will be taken by them,” he said.
At the end of his hectic consultations within the BJP, Pradhan today met RSS leaders and briefed them about the situation brought about by the resignation of nine ministers to put pressure on BJP central leadership to remove Gowda.
Loyalists Karnataka Ministers of B S Yedduyurappa, Renukacharya, Murugesh Nirani, Basavraj Bommai after a meeting in Bengaluru on Friday. PTI
With both factions crossing swords, Pradhan was deputed as the central emissary to defuse the crisis.
Yeddyurappa, whose earlier attempts to secure chief minister’s post failed, has been targeting Gowda, a loyalist-turned foe, seeking his removal and projecting Minister Jagadish Shettar as the alternative.
The party central leadership had yesterday summoned Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda to New Delhi to resolve the crisis.
The summons came hours after the turmoil in the BJP state unit showed no signs of abating as the B S Yeddyurappa camp stuck to its one-point agenda of ousting Gowda.
A day after nine Yeddyurappa loyalist-Ministers quit precipitating the crisis, Gowda expressed confidence of resolving it with the intervention of the party’s central leadership.
State BJP President K S Eshwarappa, who met Gowda, said there was no question of accepting the resignations.
Meanwhile, the Yeddyurappa camp held a strategy session today.
According to party sources, some of Yeddyurappa loyalist MPs, ministers and MLAs were huddled together at Shettar’s residence to discuss the leadership issue.
They said Yeddyurappa loyalist MPs are planning to submit their resignations to the Chief Minister, to pressure the central leaders ahead of Presidential elections on 19 July.
Some MLAs were also planning to submit resignations, the sources added.
PTI
