Karnataka crisis: Gadkari steps in

Governor H R Bhardwaj has asked the CM to prove his majority on the floor of the House before 5 pm on October 12.

The plan is to split the rebels and the party’s crisis managers have already established contact with some “seven to eight” vulnerable BJP MLAs and dangled the carrots of ministerial berths before them.

The equation is clear. In the 224-member Assembly,the BJP requires 113 to prove majority. As of now it has been reduced to 104 (including the Speaker) after 19 MLAs — 14 from the BJP and five Independents — revolted against the BSY government. The party’s troubleshooters are also negotiating with some of the Independents to make them abstain from voting.

Sources,however,said the party is not very hopeful of cracking the Independents after four Independent ministers were ousted by Yeddyurappa on Wednesday.

“They (our MLAs) have asked for a day’s time to think over the proposal. We are in constant touch with them,” a top central BJP leader told The Indian Express.

Party leaders said Yeddyurappa has made it clear that he was ready for a Cabinet expansion in an attempt to woo the rebels.

Sources said Anant Kumar and local leaders like Basavaraj Bommai and R Ashok,both of them ministers in the Yeddyurappa government,are leading the negotiations to win back the rebel MLAs. “We have received positive signals. We are hopeful of bringing the situation under control soon,” a leader,who is aware of the discusssions,said.

Alhough the party’s central leadership was of the view that the crisis was orchestrated by the JD(S),a common feeling is that the Chief Minister is unable to take everyone along. Making things worse is the factional feud within the party unit. Yeddyurappa’s style of functioning has often attracted criticism with his detractors accusing him of acting in a dictatorial manner. The party leadership,sources said,has taken note of both the machinations by anti-Yeddyurappa gang and criticim levelled against him but pointed out that the priority now was to save the first BJP government in the south.