The Karnataka BJP remains in a flux with Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda,his predecessor B S Yeddyurappa and state party chief K S Eshwarappa all claiming that a feud over leadership had been settled in their favour. Yeddyurappa,who precipitated the crisis last week by whisking away 62 of the partys 120 MLAs in a bid to bolster his campaign to regain chief ministership,said the BJPs central leadership would decide in a manner that is favourable to him. We will know soon who will be eating the festive seasons sweets, he said after returning from Delhi,where he met senior leaders. Gowda,whose hold on the job has looked increasingly tenuous since the BJP lost the Lok Sabha seat he had vacated in a bypoll earlier this month,has claimed assurance by the leadership to remain in the saddle,at least for now. Eshwarappa,who could lose his job to Yeddyurappa if the party decides to keep Gowda as chief minister,claimed in his home town Shimoga on Saturday that the crisis had been resolved. Sources said the BJP was trying to mine the crisis to its advantage by forging a formidable Lingayat-Vokkaligas-OBC alliance by making Yeddyurappa,a Lingayat,the state unit chief,and Eshwarappa,an OBC,a minister,in the Cabinet of Gowda,a Vokkaliga to fight the anti-incumbency against the party following a series of scandals and rebellions.
