Bengaluru: They may seem united from outside but there are strong undercurrents in the ruling BJP with sources saying a section of leaders within the party do not want newly sworn-in Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to complete his full tenure which is why they have stopped the JD(S) moves to extend outside support to the saffron party's government.
Sources close to former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy told Deccan Chronicle that BJP national president and Union home minister Amit Shah had a direct talk with Mr Kumaraswamy and had sought outside support of the JD(S) since he did not have faith in the 13 disqualified rebel Congress MLAs who have been staunch followers of CLP leader Siddaramaiah.
The deal was almost struck and even former PM and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda had reportedly agreed to extend outside support. This could be the reason why a section of JD(S) lawmakers had hinted at extending support to the Yediyurappa government a couple of days ago. However, at this juncture, a group of BJP leaders, who do not want Mr Yediyurappa to continue as CM till 2023, threw a spanner in the works saying the BJP does not need the outside support of JD(S) since 16 Congress and JD(S) rebel legislators want to join the Yediyurappa ministry. This upset Mr Kumaraswamy who on Saturday tweeted ruling out giving outside support to the BJP.
Sources maintained that Mr Shah, from the beginning did not have a good opinion about the 13 disqualified Congress MLAs and for this very reason, he took two days before he gave the nod to Mr Yediyurappa to be sworn in as CM. He gave the green signal only after Mr Yediyurappa gave a guarantee on the conduct of the rebel Congress lawmakers. Mr Shah had reportedly told his party colleagues that it was a better bet to go with Mr Kumaraswamy than with the acolytes of Mr Siddaramaiah.
There are many leaders in the BJP who are not keen on Mr Yediyurappa remaining CM till 2023 when the tenure of the current assembly ends and for this very reason, they want these 'unpredictable' rebel Congress legislators to be the part of the BJP government. If the Yediyurappa government falls, there is little chance of him becoming Chief Minister again considering his age.
“It will not be surprising if Mr Yediyurappa becomes a scapegoat once again,” sources said.
