Political uncertainty continues to dog the ruling party in the state. With the BJP high command taking time till July 3 to take a decision on change of guard in the state, former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his loyalists have chanced upon their latest salvo — cross-voting in the upcoming presidential polls to step up their demand for replacing Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda.
The move comes after BJP general secretary and incharge of Karnataka Dharmendra Pradhan finally made it clear to both the warring factions that they will have to wait till July 3 as BJP National president Nitin Gadkari was busy with the preparations for his son’s wedding reception to be held today.
However, a restless Yeddyurappa has now decided to step up pressure on the high command with cross-vote threat as he considers it a safe bet, especially after the Central leadership failed to take any action against BJP MLAs who cross-voted in the recent MLC elections. Mr Yeddyurappa has threatened to vote for UPA’s presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, who incidentally was in the city on Sunday to seek support from the Congress and JD(S) electorate members.
And his contention, as sources say, is that the high command can’t take any action against him or his followers, as it will be a secret ballot. Mr Yeddyurappa’s veiled threat seems to have had the desired effect as Mr Gadkari reportedly had a telephonic conversation with the Lingayat strongman on Sunday evening to advise him against acting in haste. He also asked Mr Yeddyurappa to visit Delhi to sort out thorny issues as the party fears that cross-voting by BJP MLAs would be a major embarrassment which is struggling to whip up support for NDA’s official candidate — P.A. Sangma.
Faced with legal hassles, Mr Yeddyurappa is unlikely to go to Delhi on Monday. “He has to obtain permission from the CBI. The court is closed on Sunday. So, he will not attend the wedding reception of Mr Gadkari’s son. Former chief minister has no plans to visit Delhi later also,” sources close to him said.
Mr Gowda will leave for Delhi on Monday afternoon. He is likely to take part in the core committe meeting scheduled for July 3. Interestingly, AICC general secretary Madhusudhan Mistry and senior Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad clarified that Mr Mukherjee would not be seeking support from Mr Yeddyurappa.