Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council and former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda has said the BJP’s central leadership should end uncertainty on bringing back the former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his supporters into the party.
One of the strong votaries for bring back Mr. Yeddyurappa into the BJP fold, Mr. Gowda told presspersons here on Saturday that he had urged the central leadership to take an early decision on the issue.
He said he supported neither those who want Mr. Yeddyurappa back in the party fold nor those within the party who were opposing his re-entry. “I’m batting neither for Mr. Yeddyurappa nor for others… I’m batting for the BJP,” he said. Mr. Gowda said the party would go it alone in the byelections to the Lok Sabha from Bangalore Rural and Mandya constituencies scheduled for August 21.
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To a question, he said the Congress government in the State was non-functional. “The lack of coordination between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G. Parameshwara is having an impact on the functioning of the government and the administration. Though both Mr. Siddaramaiah and Dr. Parameshwara live in Bangalore, they do not see each other face to face… This is the sorry state of affairs in the State,” he said.
An uncertain political situation was prevailing in the State due to internal squabbling in the Congress and a “cold war” between the Congress and AHINDA, he claimed. Also, there was no certainty on Mr. Siddaramaiah continuing in the office for five years. “Anything may happen after the Lok Sabha elections and the government may fall due to internal squabbling in the Congress.”
He said the statement of Janata Dal (Secular) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy alleging that officers belonging to Vokkaliga community were being targeted by the Congress government was not in good taste. It would create further division among officials and affect the administration, he said.
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‘It’s beyond me’
Special Correspondent from Bidar writes:
Mr. Gowda refused to comment on the issue of the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) merging with the BJP, saying it was “beyond” him.
“The BJP central leadership will decide on it,” is all he told presspersons in Bidar on Saturday. He was here to oversee the election of the party’s district unit president.
Shivaraj Gandage, who was appointed interim president of the BJP district unit for three months before the Assembly elections, was elected to the post for a three-year term on Saturday.