Yeddyurappa breaks down for ‘ditching’ his trusted people

Asked in an interview on the Asianet Suvarna Kannada channel on what his message to the people of Karnataka is in the light of the political happenings over the past two weeks in the state,Yeddyurappa said: “I would like to ask forgiveness for these events.”

The Chief Minister,who first conceded ground to the rebels on Friday by transferring his trusted aide and principal secretary V P Baligar and is scheduled to drop his confidante Rural Development Minister Shobha Karandlaje from the ministry,then choked back tears while saying he may never be forgiven for his actions.

“For my own self-interest,I have been forced to ditch my own trusted people. Be it Shobha or Baligar. Even God will not forgive me for this,” he told the channel.

When Yeddyurappa’s interview went on air his arch-rivals,the Reddy brothers of Bellary,were doing some hard thinking in their first re-grouping in several days,following the return of their negotiator,Tourism and Infrastructure Minister Janardhan Reddy,to Bangalore from Hyderabad and New Delhi.

When the brothers appeared before the media an hour later they did not seem to have been mellowed by Yeddyurappa’s remorse. Janardhan Reddy continued from where he had left on the demand for a change in leadership.

“From the beginning I have been saying one thing only. It is in the interest of the people,the betterment of Karnataka and the interest of the BJP. I continue to stick to that stand,” he said.

“I hope that all the leaders of the BJP will take a decision that is right,” said Reddy who indicated the need for at least two more days for something to emerge.

The tourism minister claimed that he had no details of the compromise formula worked out with central leaders to keep Yeddyurappa in power and the Reddys happy. “If you know something about it please inform me,” he said.

Following their own internal meeting the Reddy brothers and their associate Health Minister B Sreeramulu were closeted in a two-hour meeting with the Speaker of the Assembly Jagadish Shettar — originally the Reddy brothers’ pick for replacing Yeddyurappa as chief minister on account of a Lingayat and North Karnataka connection.

Shettar and the Reddys did not comment on the meeting but labelled it a courtesy call.

Meanwhile,Yeddyurappa on Saturday extended his stay in the Capital by a day at the insistence of the BJP brass that hoped for a breakthrough in the Karnataka impasse on Sunday. Yeddyurappa said he had extended his stay because he wanted to greet senior party leader L K Advani on his birthday on Sunday.

BJP leaders,meanwhile,hoped that Janardhan Reddy would reach the Capital by Sunday “for a possible rapprochement”. There was no confirmation from Reddy himself though.

After having a long meeting with senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu at his residence late on Saturday in New Delhi,Yeddyurappa,however,sounded confident. “When I visited former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday,I was reminded of what he had said once. Na Dainayam,Na Palayanam (don’t give up; don’t run away from your responsibilities),” he said. Asked why was he then reduced to tears in the interview,Yeddyurappa said: “You know that I’m a moody person.”

Some central BJP leaders had also taken up the issue of Yeddyurappa’s “temperament” at a meeting at L K Advani’s residence where the CM had lashed out at party general secretary Ananth Kumar “for precipitating the crisis”. Venkaiah Naidu,Rajnath Singh,Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were also present at the meeting where Advani had asserted that “the crisis in the state would be resolved with Yeddyurappa as the Chief Minister”.

Senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu said in New Delhi on Saturday: “Out party president Rajnath Singh has already made it clear that there would be no change in the leadership in the state.”