Karnataka rebels insist on Yeddyurappa's removal

FOR YEDDYURAPPA'S OUSTER: The Reddys feel sidelined in the party and government despite their financial clout.

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New Delhi/Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, faced with dissidents' demands for his ouster, arrived in New Delhi late on Wednesday for talks with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who have been struggling to hammer a compromise for a week now.

The dissidents led by Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy and his elder brother and Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy have rejected the plea of party president Rajnath Singh and senior leader L K Advani to allow Yeddyurappa to continue as Chief Minister in return for conceding their other demands.

The Reddys stuck to their demand on Wednesday after the third round of talks with senior leader Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi.

The Reddy brothers are billionaire iron ore mine owners and claim support of over 70 of the 117 party legislators in the 225-member state Assembly.

Janardhana Reddy discounted the possibility of his meeting with Yeddyurappa in the presence of Sushma Swaraj on Thursday.

Yeddyurappa had said in Hubli, 420 km from Bangalore, earlier on Wednesday that there was a possibility of his meeting Reddy in Sushma Swaraj's presence.

But Yeddyurappa too continued to send conflicting signals on the possibility of a compromise with the dissidents.

He told reporters he was hopeful of an end to the crisis in a day or two. At the same time he said he would go to the people to seek an answer from them on whether he has committed any mistakes and apologise to them.

He announced holding a convention in Hubli on November 7 as part of this plan.

Hubli is the hometown of speaker Jagadish Shettar, who is being projected by the dissidents as an alternative to Yeddyurappa. Shettar was in Delhi last week for talks with party leaders.

Yeddyurappa also took a swipe at scores of legislators supporting the Reddy brothers for staying in a star hotel in Hyderabad for nearly a week though most of the areas they represent have been devastated by the Septemer 30-October 2 floods in the state.

"I will tour the constituencies of these legislators to meet the people directly and explain to them the situation. People will teach a proper lesson to these legislators. I apologise to the people for this situation (of legislators being away when their constituents were suffering from flood impact)," Yeddyurappa said.

The BJP leadership has been holding hectic deliberations in New Delhi with both factions over the past three days to end their differences that are threatening to bring down the party's first government in the south.

State Governor H R Bharadwaj is also in Delhi. He told reporters he was on a private visit, but was keeping a watch on the political developments.

The Reddy brothers want Yeddyurappa out because they feel sidelined in both the party and government affairs despite using their financial clout to help the party to come to power.

Sushma Swaraj has been roped in by the BJP to help end the turmoil as she is considered close to the Reddy brothers.

In the May 2008 polls, the BJP won 110 of the 224 elected seats in the 225-member Assembly. It formed the government with the help of six Independents, five of whom have been rewarded with ministership. The Reddys are believed to have won over the Independents.

Later, the Reddys also lured more than half a dozen Congress and Janata Dal-Secular legislators to the BJP.

The Reddys have rejected an appeal by Rajnath Singh and Advani to retain Yeddyurappa as chief minister as a compromise to conceding most their other demands.

These include sacking of ministers considered close to Yeddyurappa, shunting out some senior officials in the chief minister's secretariat, prominent role to the Reddys and their supporters in the party and government, withdrawal of Rs 1,000 toll on every truck carrying iron ore, and dropping of a kidnap case against the third Reddy sibling, G Somashekara, a legislator.

The crisis erupted on October 26 and senior leader Arun Jaitley arrived in Bangalore on October 28 for a patch-up bid. He failed and returned to Delhi on October 30. Since then Delhi has been the scene of parleys between the BJP central leaders and the rebels and Yeddyurappa's representatives.