BANGALORE: The fight for leadership in the state BJP is turning out to be a never-ending saga.
With just a day left for the ongoing Budget Session to conclude, the factions in the ruling BJP have suddenly become hyperactive to outsmart each other in the ‘power game’.
While former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has hosted a breakfast for all the 221 BJP members on Friday with a hope to win their confidence in his bid to return to the hot seat, his opponents have organised a lunch for the BJP MLAs in what could be seen as a ‘tit-for-tat’ to BSY’s breakfast meeting.
Though both the camps refused to attach any political significance to these breakfast and lunch diplomacies, there is none to buy this as everybody is expecting a ‘political high drama’ in the ruling BJP in the first week of April, when the party high command sits down to settle the leadership tussle in Karnataka.
Deviating from his usual practice, this time Yeddyurappa has printed the invitation cards and was seen personally inviting all the MLAs in the Assembly on Thursday. “He (BSY) wants to leave no chance for his detractors to say that they were not invited,” sources said, explaining the intention behind printing the invites.
Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda, state BJP president K S Eshwarappa and Municipal Administration Minister Balachandra Jarakiholi have also been invited to the breakfast.
In the meeting, Yeddyurappa is likely to seek the cooperation of MLAs to help him regain the CM’s post.
Sensing the ever-thickening plot in the BSY camp, the pro-Gowda team also swung into action on Thursday and quickly decided to organise a luncheon meeting for all the BJP MLAs at Kannada and Culture Minister Govind Karjol’s official residence on Friday.
“There is nothing special. Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda has given us a good budget and we all want to congratulate him at the meeting,” sources close to the CM’s camp said.