Has former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa lost a chance to fulfil his ambition of presenting his Rs 1 lakh crore state budget by not campaigning for the party candidate in the Udupi-Chikmagalur parliamentary bypoll?
Sources said that a section of top BJP leaders had in fact worked out a compromise formula to resolve the logjam in Karnataka. As per the plan, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa was to be reinducted as chief minister on March 19 and D.V. Sadananda Gowda was to be sent to the Rajya Sabha. This would have given BSY a chance to present the budget on March 21 and rule the state in peace for the rest of his term with Mr Gowda away in Delhi.
Mr Yeddyurappa who was pleased with the formula, stopped his tirade against the leadership and has been keeping quiet in the last two days. He even announced that the CM will present the budget in what was intended to send out the message that he was a loyal party worker and would do nothing to upset the functioning of the BJP government in Karnataka. To keep BJP leaders who were upset that he had not campaigned for party candidate Sunil Kumar in the Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency, happy, he announced that he had prayed for the success of the BJP candidate at Vaishno Devi. Sources said that BSY is doing all this in the belief that the formula will be implemented in toto.
But his refusal to hit the campaign trail in spite of the several pleas made to him, has not gone down well with the party leadership which is now rethinking its offer, sources said. This is clear from the decision of BJP leaders to put off the meeting to discuss the selection of Rajya Sabha candidates to Sunday instead of Saturday when it was earlier scheduled to happen. Sunday is also the day for polling in the Udupi-Chikmagalur seat.
Party leaders know that if Mr Gowda is not made a Rajya Sabha candidate as agreed upon, Mr Yeddyurappa could ‘betray’ the BJP and can send a message to Lingayats in the constituency not to vote for the party candidate. “So there will be no discussion on Karnataka affairs including the Rajya Sabha poll till Sunday and till the bypoll is over," the sources clarified.