There are many behind-the-scenes players in the political crisis playing out in the ruling BJP in the state, chief among them being Ananth Kumar, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. The arrival of Jaitley to referee the stand-off between the Reddy brothers of Bellary and Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa — at a time when Yeddyurappa, considered a Rajnath Singh camper, seemed to be completely in control — put a new spin on the crisis. The Reddys began projecting the issue as a challenge to the continuance of Yeddyurappa as the chief minister rather than to their own interests. Kumar, an old competitor of Yeddyurappa for stakes in the Karnataka BJP, who was a part of the parleys with Jaitley, has maintained a stoic silence in the current scenario. Sushma Swaraj, whom the Reddy brothers are considered close to, is also expected to have pushed for a lenient view on the Reddys’ dissidence.

Cricketer case: Bang off target

The saga of a Jammu and Kashmir cricket team member’s kit bag that caused an explosives alarm at the Bangalore cricket stadium ahead of the Champions League 20-20 encounters has ended happily for the player. Tests at the state forensic science laboratory have confirmed preliminary findings that ruled out the presence of any explosives in the kit bag of J&K batting all-rounder Parvez Rasool. The findings have concluded that a plasticiser substance used in the manufacture of the bag could have triggered the alarm.

S M Krishna’s lunch diplomacy

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