BENGALURU: The much-talked about meeting between JDS Minister Sa Ra Mahesh and BJP leaders Muralidhar Rao and KS Eshwarappa has set off speculation that there could be 2006 redux, with the BJP and JDS coming together to form the government.
Both parties, though, were quick to pooh-pooh talk that there was more to the meeting than meets the eye, ever since it took place at Kumara Krupa guesthouse on Thursday.
Rao questioned the venue.
“Assuming I do want to meet Sa Ra Mahesh, why will I meet him at Kumara Krupa guesthouse, I would perhaps choose a more discreet location,’’ he told TNIE.
“The entire country is coming after the BJP, why will we go after the JDS or anyone else, they will come after us.’’
Asked about the possibility of a JDS-BJP tie-up, he said, “Kumaraswamy cannot survive, the JDS is finding it difficult to go on. In six months, they will all come to us. Many of their legislators are searching for avenues on their own.’’
He narrated what had happened at the meeting.
“On Thursday, I wanted to meet senior leader KS Eshwarappa. We met at Kumara Krupa guesthouse and were in the board room. As Eshwarappa and I walked towards our cars, Sa Ra Mahesh, who was strolling there, spotted Eshwarappa and greeted him, he did not even recognise me or talk to me. They spoke to each other. If you remember, Sa Ra was earlier with the BJP.
Eshwarappa introduced me to Mahesh, saying he was with BJP Yuva Morcha. Mahesh recounted that he had contested from KR Nagar as a BJP candidate and lost by about 3,500 votes.
He spoke about how BJP leaders Ananth Kumar and Yeddyurappa had blessed him with the ticket.
"We must have spoken for about five minutes at most. It was a chance meeting. Then, Eshwarappa and I got into our cars and as we were leaving, some electronic media persons came up and asked questions, but we went our way.”