Leaders backing BS Yeddyurappa today held talks with senior BJP leader LK Advani in the wake of demands for the Karnataka chief minister's removal by the Bellary brothers. Former MP Dhananjay Kumar and Karnataka home minister VS Acharya called on Advani to discuss the crisis in the state.
Both the leaders are in the capital as emissaries of Yeddyurappa and have tried to convince the central leadership that there should be no change of guard. Kumar and Acharya had held a meeting with BJP general secretary (organisation) Ramlal yesterday. They claimed that Ramlal had assured them the incumbent chief minister would continue.
Karnataka Speaker Jagadish Shettar, who is close to the Bellary brothers -- Janardhan Reddy and G Karunakar Reddy -- met senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who is the central leadership's pointsman for dealing with the crisis.
Jaitley had spent three days in Karnataka last week to resolve the crisis. After he failed to convince the dissidents, leaders from both the camps are visiting the capital to find a solution to the problem. Reddy brothers are expected to reach Delhi tomorrow while Yeddyurappa will be here on November 4.
Shettar, who belongs to the dominant Lingayat community like Yeddyurappa, has been propped up by Bellary brothers as their candidate for the chief minister's post. Ananth Kumar said BJP would arrive at an amicable solution to the crisis "within the party framework". The Reddy brothers are expected to arrive here on Monday.
To a question on whether the brothers were becoming too powerful, Gowda said, "I don't think so. I am not ignoring them but just because they own some mines, that does not mean that they are very powerful."
Karnataka minister of excise and water supply Katta Subramania said, "The crisis will be resolved in a day or two. We are not talking about leadership (issue) in the party."
