BJP backs Yeddyurappa; rebels won't rest the cause

STAYING AFLOAT: Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa faces challenge from mining lobby.

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New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday came out in support of beleaguered Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, his supporters said, but the dissidents continued to campaign for his removal.

Leaders of the rival BJP groups from Karnataka pursued their lobbying in Delhi, meeting party leaders including L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Several legislators and MPs belonging to both the camps--one supporting Yeddyurappa and another favouring the Reddy brothers of Bellary--are in New Delhi.

Revealing the thinking in the highest echelons of the BJP, state party president Sadananda Gowda said that Yeddyurappa would remain the Chief Minister.

Yeddyurappa backers--former MP Dhananjay Kumar and state Home Minister V S Acharya--met Advani on Sunday and said they had been assured that there would be no leadership change. They also met BJP president Rajnath Singh.

Acharya and Kumar also called on RSS pointsman and BJP general secretary Ramlal earlier and claimed his support in favour of Yeddyurappa.

Legislators and MPs supporting Yeddyurappa are again to expected to meet Advani.

The chief minister's supporters claimed that the RSS wanted Yeddyurappa should continue in his post. The chief minister's removal is being sought by the powerful Reddy brothers of Bellary.

The Reddy brothers, both ministers in the state cabinet, are lobbying to appoint assembly Speaker Jagadish Shettar as the chief minister.

Shettar, 53, is close to the Bellary brothers--dissident ministers G Janardhana Reddy (Tourism) and elder brother G Karunakara Reddy (Revenue).

Shettar also met central party leaders, including Jaitley.

A senior party leader close to the political developments told IANS that "everything is under control and the CM is Mr. Yeddyurappa". All issues would be sorted out in a couple of days, he said.

Asked whether the chief minister still enjoyed the support of the RSS and the BJP leadership, he said: "The Sangh is not against Yeddyurappa."

Four-term legislator Shettar came to the BJP after being a member of the RSS and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

The BJP government in Karnataka, the party's first in the south, has been facing turmoil for days.