Sharad, Digvijay attempt to smooth Hegde’s ruffled feathers

JD (U) sources aver that Hegde’s omission was due to a “communication gap” and the problem would be overcome in an amicable manner as Hegde, the founder of JD (U), would not do anything to harm the interests of the party. “He is our senior and respected leader and nobody could question his competence, honesty and integrity. We are confident of overcoming the problem,” Yadav said. Vajpayee sort out the misunderstanding with Hegde.

When contacted, Hegde said he was “hurt” at the treatment meted out to him and all he expected was “civilised treatment”. He would have been the first to accommodate a Minister from Bihar, if the coming Bihar Assembly election was the criteria. “In my whole political life, I was never treated like this. All the positions I held had come unsolicited,” he added.

Hegde did not believe that the Karnataka unit of the BJP had opposed his continuance in the Vajpayee Cabinet.

About the JD (U) snapping ties with the BJP in Karnataka, the party sources said the understanding was for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The parties were free to strengthen their organisations in the State, as there were no immediate elections. The party was part of NDA and the alliance had not percolated to the workers’ level.

While Sharad Yadav did not foresee any big problem in Karnataka, he said he would discuss the matter with JD (U) leaders. Hegde too declined to comment unless he spoke to former Karnataka chief minister J H Patel and other leaders.