Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj’s move to prosecute state chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has split the saffron camp from within. The camps of top party leaders, ranging from Mr L.K. Advani to Ms Sushma Swaraj, who were in favour of replacing Mr Yeddyurappa immediately after the Bihar polls, are now pointing fingers at Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and BJP chief Nitin Gadkari for retaining him. Though the BJP has so far decided to back the CM, the party will wait for Mr Gadkari to return from China on Monday to take stock of the situation.
The fight, however, shifted to the national capital on Saturday with Union home minister P. Chidambaram targeting the BJP for its attack on the Karnataka governor granting sanction to prosecute the CM and said the governor’s decision was in accordance with the law. Responding to the home minister’s remarks, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said: “What the home minister has ignored is the explicit observation of the Supreme Court that even though the governor can act independent of the decision of the council of ministers and act at his own discretion, yet the issue of sanction has first to be considered by the council of ministers.”
However, despite the differences brewing in the BJP over Mr Yeddyurappa, the majority of the leaders feel any move to replace him at this juncture will send the wrong signal. “The BJP will be seen buckling under the governor’s pressure,” a senior party functionary observed.
However, a debate has begun in the party on whether to continue with Mr Yeddyurappa as CM “once the storm blows over”. Sources disclosed that Mr Advani and Ms Swaraj had earlier made it clear that allowing Mr Yeddyurappa to continue, following charges of “illegal deals”, could push the BJP into a corner. They had also indicated that the party would lose the advantage of taking the moral high ground on the 2G scam. Mr Gadkari, along with Mr Venkaiah Naidu and Dr Joshi, however, decided to continue with the scam-tainted CM, sources disclosed. During his meeting with the party leadership, Mr Yeddyurappa had also accused BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar of “conspiring against him”, sources said.
The BJP central leadership is also worried about the ground situation in Karnataka. It may be recalled that the combined Opposition of the JD(S) and Congress had stalled the last state Assembly session. The Opposition, particularly the JD(S) is looking at the possibility of dissolution of the Assembly and a snap poll in Karnataka, sources said. “Yeddyurappa has become a liability and is dragging the party down with him,” a senior BJP functionary said.