BENGALURU : Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday afternoon paid a surprise visit to Kaveri, the residence of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, and spent about 25-30 minutes with him in a closed-door meeting, without assistants.
Sources said that Bommai had spoken to Yediyurappa about the discontent brewing within the ministry and party. Yediyurappa is said to have told Bommai that he would help him deal with the unhappy legislators, and that he, as Chief Minister, needs to focus on administration, with the twin challenges of Covid and floods looming large.
Those who are unhappy with their ministries have made no bones about it, especially Anand Singh, MTB Nagaraj, V Somanna and Shashikala Jolle. It may be recalled that just days after the new ministers were appointed and portfolios announced, the number of disgruntled legislators has increased.
It may be recalled that legislators who failed to make it to the cabinet had gathered at the residence of former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi on Friday evening, and when he left by road for Belagavi, there were many more who were waiting to meet him in his home town on Saturday. This is in addition to those legislators who quit the Congress-JDS to join the BJP, like Srimanth Patil, Mahesh Kumatahalli and Prathapgouda Patil.
Ramesh, who resigned following the CD row, bargained hard to get his brother Balachandra Jarkiholi into the cabinet, but was unable to do so. He himself expects to join the cabinet after cases against him are cleared. The list of disgruntled legislators is long: Honalli MLA MP Renukacharya, Haveri MLA Nehru Olekar, Shorapur MLA Raju Gowda and others. Olekar has said that those who were denied a cabinet berth will come together and take a decision on their next step.
A group of disgruntled legislators which was working to discredit Yediyurappa -- MLAs Basanagouda Yatnal and Arvind Bellad, MLCs CP Yogeeshwara and Adagur Vishwanath -- have been in touch with the unhappy ministers.
Pratap Gouda Patil, who lost the assembly elections on a BJP ticket, told TNIE that he had met CM Bommai on Saturday, along with Balchandra Jarkiholi, Srimanth Patil and Mahesh Kumatahalli. He said he lost his assembly seat and the BJP has not recognised him, suggesting that certain people in the party had conspired to defeat him. He is asking to be suitably rehabilitated. As Arvind Bellad told TNIE, “Everyone cannot be satisfied 100 per cent.”
Meanwhile, Hassan MLA Preetham Gowda appears none too happy that CM Bommai had met Deve Gowda. Gowda had also met senior BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and other BJP leaders. The JDS has already expressed support for the BJP, and is willing to help form the government if any of the unhappy BJP MLAs plan to leave. While dissidents do understand that the JDS has already tied up with BJP in the Upper House, it is are not willing to join the government. Party sources also warned that elections are due in just 20 months, and the MLAs should not indulge in any drama to embarrass the party.
BJP general secretary Ravi Kumar told TNIE, “Even my name was taken as a ministerial probable, but everyone cannot be accommodated at one time, we have to wait for our turn.’’
Party leaders have, by and large, managed to douse discontent threatening to engulf the party, but it remains to be seen if they can instil the famed party discipline, and prevent the situation from getting worse.