New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa finds himself in a new controversy, after he was purportedly recorded claiming BJP president Amit Shah’s hand in the MLA defections that brought down the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government earlier this year.
However, while the Congress has threatened to move court with the audio clip, the BJP high command has thrown its weight behind Yediyurappa.
Talking to ThePrint, a senior BJP leader said Yediyurappa had been quoted out of context. He said the group of 17 legislators from the Congress and the JD(S) had resigned because of their dissatisfaction with the parties.
The MLAs want to contest on the BJP symbol in the upcoming byelections and the party will decide their candidature at an appropriate time after the Supreme Court ruling, the BJP source added. The leader said there may be some resentment among BJP workers over this “but this will be sorted out”.
In the clip, reportedly recorded at a BJP core committee meeting in Karnataka, Yediyurappa is purportedly heard claiming that Amit Shah had supported the MLAs’ rebellion, while questioning local leaders’ resentment over the party accommodating the rebels within its fold.
“You know that the decision to obtain the support of 17 MLAs was not taken by Yediyurappa alone. The national president of the party himself supported the move and the rebels were kept in Mumbai for two and a half months,” the voice believed to be Yediyurappa’s is heard saying.
“We would have been in opposition for another three and a half years, but we came to power because of the MLAs’ resignation,” the voice said. “The way people spoke today, it seems they are not interested in saving the government. I am hurt… I had not expected this from you.”
The rebel MLAs were disqualified by erstwhile assembly speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar before the Congress-JD(S) government collapsed. Since the disqualification means they cannot contest until the term of the current assembly expires in 2023, the MLAs have challenged it in the Supreme Court. The court’s verdict is likely this week.
Meanwhile, bypolls to 15 of the 17 seats are due 5 December, after being deferred from 21 October. Two of the seats have been locked in a legal tussle since the 2018 assembly polls and won’t be holding bypolls just yet. Yeddiyurappa’s rivals in the state are reportedly miffed at the prospect of the BJP nominating the rebels as candidates for the bypolls.
Last month, in a bid to defuse a rebellion within the party, Yediyurappa had appointed eight former BJP MLAs as chairpersons of corporations and boards. All of them opposed tickets to the rebels.
They include MP B.N. Bachegowda’s son Sharath, who was made chairman of the Karnataka Housing Board. In the assembly elections, Sharath had lost to the Congress’ MTB Nagaraju, one of the rebels.
Also read: When CM B.S. Yediyurappa smelt a rat in Karnataka Vidhana Soudha
‘Can’t dump them in the middle’
Udupi MP Shobha Karandlaje, who is known to be close to Yediyurappa, said “all defectors have been promised ministerial berths once they get elected”.
“How can the BJP dump them in the middle? A few leaders are making a hue and cry for their own political interest. The state government was only formed after the BJP high command gave a green signal to Yediyurappa,” she added.
Another leader close to Yediyurappa said the leak of the clip may have been engineered to defame Yediyurappa and create a rift between the central leadership and the CM.
Meanwhile, the Congress has said it will approach the Supreme Court with the clip and inform judges that the rebels did not quit on their own but were influenced by the BJP to defect.
Leader of the opposition Siddramaiah met Governor Vajubhai Vala Saturday and demanded the dismissal of the Yediyurappa government for “engineering defections”. He said Yediyurappa and Home Minister Amit Shah had conspired to defeat the anti-defection law .
The Karnataka assembly altogether has 224 elected seats and a nominated member. The BJP currently has 104 MLAs along with the support of independent H. Nagesh. The Congress and the JD (S) have 64 and 34 MLAs, respectively, including the rebels.
After the bypolls, the Karnataka assembly’s magic number will rise to 112, which means the BJP needs seven seats to establish a majority. All the seats where the bypolls are due are strongholds of the Congress and the JD (S).
While the Congress has announced the candidates for the upcoming bypolls, the BJP has yet to take a decision, given that the Supreme Court verdict is still awaited.
Also read: Disqualified Karnataka MLAs find a new tool to woo voters — new districts