Amid a stand-off between Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and three dissident ministers,who are up in arms over his style of functioning,BJP today rushed senior leader Arun Jaitely here to defuse the crisis. Hours before Jaitley's arrival,Yeddyurappa cracked his whip by abruptly ordering transfer of five officials including Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Bellary district,a move seen as striking at the Reddy brothers- Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy and Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy,who hail from the mine-rich district. Yeddyurappa also shunted out the Health Department Principal Secretary I R Perumal,apparently targeting Health Minister B Sreeramulu,a close aide of the influential mine-owning Reddy brothers. "It is an administrative exercise. There is nothing special about it. We wanted some good officers in Bellary to implement relief works in flood hit areas. It doesn't mean that those who were transferred are not good officials",Yeddyurappa told reporters defending the action. Meanwhile,all the three ministers today went ahead with their plans to launch a housing scheme in Bellary by laying the foundation at a village near Siruguppa for constructing 50,000 homes at a cost of Rs 500 crore for those affected by the recent floods. The rebel ministers did not even invite the Chief Minister for the function,indicating the widening rift.
