BANGALORE, June 18: There appears to be a temporary ceasefire in the Janata Dal camp in Karnataka with Chief Minister J H Patel succeeding in reining in the dissident faction led by his Deputy, Siddaramaiah, following a two-hour conciliatory meeting here on Thursday. The meeting was also attended by senior party leaders H D Deve Gowda and S R Bommai, besides state party president B L Shankar.Emerging from the talks held at the Chief Minister's Home Office `Krishna', Shankar told mediapersons that the need for calling a meeting of the Janata Dal Legislature Party (JDLP) "does not arise now".The series of decisions reportedly taken at the meeting - which began at 9 am and lasted until after 11 am - clearly indicate that the Chief Minister has won this round. As against Siddaramaiah's demand for reconstituting the ministry after calling for resignations by all the current members, it was decided to ask for the immediate resignation of the chairmen of various Boards and corporations, nearly 70 in all.K H Srinivas, the Chief Minister's political secretary, was placed in charge of fresh appointments.A similar decision was taken with regard to presidents of district and taluk units of the party, Shankar said. The resignations were being sought on the grounds that the party needs to be restructured in order to be "reinvigorated". As party president, Shankar has been chosen to oversee the new appointments.A decision on the Cabinet reshuffle and restructuring was left to the Chief Minister's discretion. When he does so, he will take both Siddaramaiah and party president Shankar into confidence. Other senior leaders - obviously implying Deve Gowda and Bommai - will be consulted only if the need arises.It was also decided that the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister would not go public with their allegations against each other.Both used this morning's forum to air their grievances, Shankar said. Siddaramaiah complained that the Chief Minister was not taking him into confidence on anymajor decision. Patel for his part, is said to have reminded his Deputy that he was trying to project Siddaramaiah as the next in command by allowing him a free hand in the constitution of the boards and Corporations, besides the various Cabinet sub-committees. On Siddaramaiah's complaint that many legislators supporting him were unhappy with the way they were being treated, the meeting felt that any such grievance could be brought to the attention of the three of them - Patel, Siddaramaiah and Shankar. Only if necessary, need it be referred to senior party leaders like Bommai and Deve Gowda.With regard to the complaints against certain senior bureaucrats in the government alleged to be playing a partisan role, it was decided that the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister would resolve it after a joint discussion. All administrative decisions will also be taken jointly by the two.
