A day ahead of the state BJP government marking its fourth anniversary in office on Thursday, Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda hosted a meeting of his supporters on Wednesday in a calculated show of strength as moves to oust him from office gathered pace.
Mr Gowda, scheduled to announce highlights of the government’s performance through a book “Four years of all embracing (sic) performance” on Thursday, is refusing to be cowed down by the group led by former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa who want him replaced by Hubli Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar.
Determined not to step down, the doggedly determined CM had already signalled on Tuesday that he was no pushover when he said firmly to the media at the secretariat: “There is no vacancy, you can publish this in your newspaper.”
\On Wednesday he went into a huddle with ministers Govind Karjol, S. Suresh Kumar, B.N. Bachche Gowda, S.A. Ramdas, and C.P. Yogeshwar, at his official residence. Bracing for a visit of general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs, Dharmendra Pradhan, the Sadananda Gowda group is set to highlight the government’s performance to counter allegations by Mr Yeddyurappa and his supporters that his government had not delivered. Mr Pradhan is likely to gauge the mood of legislators over demands for a meeting of the legislature party and a change in leadership during his next visit.