In a bid to defuse the crisis in the Karnataka BJP over the resignation of former health minister B. Sriramulu, the party central leadership has summoned him to Delhi but sources said they may adopt a tough posture and not give in to his pressure tactics.
Highly placed sources in the party told this newspaper that Mr Sriramulu will go to Delhi on Monday to hold talks with senior leaders, including Karnataka in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan. Before he announced his resignation, Mr Pradhan had telephoned him and requested him not to take any hasty decision. The party may “leave them to their fate” if Mr Sriramulu, or the Reddy brothers for that matter, choose to ignore their directive to remain in the BJP, the sources added.
Speaking to this newspaper, a highly placed source said, “The Reddy brothers seem to have crossed their limits. Central leaders are running out of patience and may adopt the same method the Congress resorted to in Andhra Pradesh to tackle Jagan Mohan Reddy.” This time the central leadership may stick to its decision not to include them in the cabinet despite all that the Reddys are doing. BJP president Nitin Gadkari had conveyed this to them when he visited Bellary. Mr Gadkari had assured them that the BJP would do everything possible at the national level to help them come clean in the illegal mining scam. “Despite such an assurance, the Reddys continued their arm twist tactics by asking Sriramulu to resign, which has not gone well with them. If the Reddys do not give in, the party might even consider expelling them like the Congress did to Jagan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh,” the source added.
“We had suggested to Mr Sriramulu to wait till the state government acts on the Lokayukta report but he does not have the patience to oblige us,” said a senior BJP leader.