Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa marked his third year in office with a meet the press programme where he once again walked a fine line between the warring Central leaders in his party, demonstrating once again why he has survived every crisis that has beset his government.
Asked whether senior leader Sushma Swaraj had pressured him to include the Reddy brothers in his Cabinet, he said, “She is absolutely right in her statement. She had not recommended anyone including the Reddy brothers in the Cabinet. I consulted central leaders and took the Reddy brothers into the Cabinet keeping in view their contribution to the party.”
He refused to be drawn into any comment on whether or not he thought Ms Swaraj was a senior leader. But he did say categorically: “I will not drop Reddy brothers from the Cabinet.”
“Under the present circumstances, the question of dropping any of them does not arise,” he added.
But, replying to yet another question on what he would do when the cases of illegal mining came up to fruition, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa backtracked to say: “Let me see, when the charges of illegal mining are proved against them.” The biggest challenge before chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is to continue in office without upsetting either one faction or the other at the Centre while waiting for the CBI inquiries into the Reddy-owned mines to conclude.
Secondly, party sources say, that by saying Ms Swaraj did not interfere and that the decision on Cabinet formation in 2008 was taken in consultation with BJP officials in charge of the state, he sends out the message he is a loyal party man and was not subject to pressure, while simultaneously building bridges with a future prime ministerial candidate.
“He cannot afford to get on Sushmaji’s wrong side,” a party official said. Party sources, however, insist the genesis of the Reddy’s-BSY rivalry goes back to Cabinet formation when there was pressure to give all the Reddy brothers a berth, and BSY limited it to three slots in the Cabinet. In addition, Reddys’ income from mining was severely curtailed when BSY insisted that only “finished” iron ore and not raw ore could be exported from Karnataka’s ports.
Sources close to the Bellary brothers are said to be extremely upset at being given the cold shoulder by Ms Swaraj, although in public the Reddys’ pointman and health minister B. Sreeramulu only had praise for their “Thaayi.”