Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who was on dharna against the Cauvery water release, took on Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and threatened to launch an agitation against party MP H N Ananth Kumar.
“I will fight against Ananth Kumar if he fails to take a delegation of party MPs to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to exert pressure to review the September 19 decision directing the state to release water to Tamil Nadu,” he said, asking what the Bangalore South MP was doing while the state was protesting.
The Ananth Kumar camp, however, claimed that their efforts to get an appointment with the PM on Sunday failed.
“The PMO refused to entertain our request saying that the PM needed rest.” On the CM, Yeddyurappa sarcastically remarked that he was “busy administering the state with two bruhaspathis (learned men) by his side”, referring to Deputy Chief Ministers K S Eshwarappa and R Ashok.
Taking a dig at Ashok, Yeddyurappa asked what he was doing in Bangalore. “He should have been in Mandya supporting the farmers’ cause,” Yeddyurappa said.
Meanwhile, he continued to fire at his detractors from the shoulders of his supporters. On Saturday, V Dhananjay Kumar, who was recently sacked as a state’s Delhi representative, likened Shettar to a prisoner. “Like a prisoner in jail, the Chief Minister is conducting secret meetings on the day of the bandh,” Kumar alleged.
The state BJP promptly slapped a show cause notice on him for his continuing criticism of the government and Shettar. A notice issued by MLC and party general secretary Raghunath Malkapure asked him to respond within seven days. There, however, was no action against Yeddyurappa for his continued outbursts against party leaders.