The Ministers supporting breakaway BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa have prevailed upon him to put his plans on hold to dislodge the five-month-old Jagadish Shettar government.
At an informal meeting convened by the former chief minister at his residence on Saturday, Energy Minister Shoba Karandalaje, PWD Minister CM Udasi, Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani and Excise Minister M P Renukacharya are said to have appealed to Yeddyurappa not to strike at Shettar government until the the BJP initiates disciplinary action against the 14 MLAs who attended the Karnataka Janata Party rally in Haveri.
“Let’s wait and watch what the BJP does. If they take action against our MLAs, then we can retaliate by directly meeting Governor H R Bhardwaj and handing over letters saying that we don’t have confidence in the Chief Minister,” the ministers are said to have advised Yeddyurappa.
One of the ministers who attended the meeting claimed that Yeddyurappa has with him the letters of the 33 BJP MLAs which state that they have no confidence in the CM. The minister said that they will wait for the BJP’s central core committee meeting in Delhi on Monday and take an appropriate decision based on its outcome.
“If the BJP decides to strike at us by slapping notices on our MLAs, then Yeddyurappa will have a free hand to take a decision on pulling down the government. We will standby whatever decision he takes,” the Minister said.
On Friday, Yeddyurappa had stated in Mysore that he would review his decision to allow the Shettar government to complete its term. His decision is said to have been triggered by a media interview by Shettar who had stated that Yeddyurappa prevented him from becoming the CM because he too was a Lingayat.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders are likely to take up a statewide tour from Monday. The teams will be headed by Shettar, former C M D V Sadananda Gowda, Deputy Chief Ministers K S Eshwarappa and R Ashok and BJP national general secretary H N Ananth Kumar.