A joint appearance of foes K S Eshwarappa and B S Yeddyurappa at the Nehru Stadium in the city raised many questions in political circles, including the on-off merger talks of their parties — the BJP and splinter group KJP.
Both the Shimoga strongmen came to the stadium after their meeting at the house of Chairman of the Legislative Council D H Shankarmurthy, an old mediator between them. Yeddyurappa reportedly set it a precondition that the meeting had to be held at Shankarmurthy’s house. The two also reportedly met once earlier in Bangalore, at Shankarmurthy’s behest.
Eshwarappa obliquely indicated the Legislative Council chairman’s importance. He told reporters: “He (Yeddyurappa) is in his party and we are in BJP. But, this state would not have resulted if Shankarmurthy was active in politics.”
Both Eshwarappa and Yeddyurappa reportedly came to Shankarmurthy’s residence by 4.15 pm and the meeting lasted for about an hour and a half. The meeting was attended by many district office-bearers of BJP, besides district KJP president S S Jyothi Prakash. Shimoga MP Raghavendra, the son of Yeddyurappa, was said to be “very enthusiastic” throughout the meeting.
On record, both the leaders denied any kind of political discussion at the meet. They claimed they were debating the issue of organising Vijaya Dashami celebrations inside Nehru Stadium.
Eshwarappa said: “We came together with the intention of doing good for the people during the Dasara celebrations. Is it wrong if Vijaya Dashami brings us together?”
Yeddyurappa maintained: “There was no discussion on politics. I am here with regard to Dasara celebrations and there is nothing special about it”. A week ago, Eshwarappa told the media that “a non-Congress party would rule the Shimoga municipality.” While Congress has 12 seats, the KJP 10, BJP seven and JD(S) five. If all the opposition parties come together, they will reach the mark of 22 seats to rule the municipality.