Signalling he had no intention to back down, former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa refused to meet senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday even as the party prepared for life without the former CM with strategy sessions planned over the next 24 hours to discuss the impact his exit would have on the BJP. Mr Jaitley and Mr Pradhan, the party general secretary in charge of Karnataka, were in for a rude shock when in a clear act of defiance, Mr Yeddyurappa told their emissary that he was in no mood to meet them. The two leaders arrived in the city Monday evening to elicit the opinion of state leaders on the crisis created by BSY and the effect it would have on the Jagadish Shettar government if he decides to pull out of the BJP.
“A mediator approached Mr Yeddyurappa with a request to meet Mr Jaitley but BSY told him that this was not the time to meet and discuss politics. To keep his options open, BSY has conveyed a message that he would like to meet Jaitley during his visit to Delhi in the near future,” sources said. Last week, Mr Yeddyurappa held a press conference and launched a no holds barred attack on party patriarch L.K. Advani, national president Nitin Gadkari, and general secretary Ananth Kumar for denying him the party state chief’s post. Now that he has decided to spurn Jaitley’s offer of striking a truce, it is clear that the Lingayat strongman is preparing to take on the central leadership head-on.
With BSY playing truant, the two senior leaders met Chief Minister Shettar, deputy chief ministers K.S. Eshwarappa and R. Ashok and party organising secretary Santosh to discuss the political climate in the wake of the Cauvery agitation and the ex-CM’s revolt. Meanwhile, Mr Yeddyurappa left for Shimoga to attend programmes in his constituency, Shikaripur.