Bengaluru: With days to go before the new BJP Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa faces a floor test on Monday, the BJP was buoyed by two developments — the Congress’ failed mission to bring the three key Siddaramaiah acolytes turned rebels back to the fold, and the Janata Dal (S) supremo HD Deve Gowda publicly saying that his party will not back the BJP even as a senior member of the party said the rank and file wanted to extend outside support to the BJP.
A day after the Governor invited BJP leader BS Yediyurappa to be sworn in and face a trust vote, the beleaguered Congress which can see the writing on the wall, made a last ditch effort to woo back the dissidents but met with little success.
KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, flew into Mumbai on Saturday, with his office saying he was on a personal visit while Eshwar Khandre, the KPCC working president arrived in Pune on an unscheduled visit.
Sources have told this newspaper that both the leaders reportedly tried to reach out to the dissident MLAs who are at the Amby Valley resort and under the watchful eye of BJP minders. However, the dissidents did not answer the calls that the two leaders made. In fact, to avoid the media glare, the two leaders did proffer different reasons on why they were heading to Mumbai and Pune, and took different routes to avoid the media after landing in these cities.
However, the remarks by former minister GT Deve Gowda on JD(S) MLAs echoing remarks by a section of JD(S) legislators asking former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to extend outside support to the BJP government headed by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa set off another storm, with many within the JD(S) reportedly even favouring a no-show at the trust vote to ensure that they do not have to vote against the motion, allowing the BS Yeddiurappa a smooth and uncontested win.
Former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda was, however, quick to squash any speculation of outside or inside support, by saying on Saturday that he ruled out any support to the BJP government headed by Yediyurappa, saying his party would play the role of a “constructive” Opposition.
