New Delhi, November 08: BJP parliamentary party leader Sushma Swaraj on Sunday announced an end to the Karnataka political crisis. She said that a deal had been reached between the Reddy brothers and BS Yeddyurappa.
“Yeddyurappa and Reddys will work like brothers,” Swaraj said.
The deal comes after Yeddyurappa met the Reddys at Sushma Swaraj’s residence. The crisis seemed headed for a resolution early today when the both the Reddys and Yeddyurappa hinted that an announcement could be made by evening.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting Yeddyurappa thanked the BJP leadership for their help and support in resolving the crisis and reposing faith in his leadership.
He said that he would start extensively touring the flood affected areas of the state from Monday itself.
“I strongly believe that politics should never come in the way of relief and rehabilitation work,” he said. “I have sought the forgiveness of the people of the state and have no hesitation in repeating the same.”
He however did not disclose the terms of the agreement with the Reddys.
On Saturday the Chief Minister had blamed the dissidents for shifting focus from relief work to the politics with tears in his eyes.
“I apologise to the flood victims. When they are facing so many problems, we should not have wasted time on this crisis,” he told Kannada channel “Suvarna”.
He said the people he trusted did not support him. “I should have not been distracted. I hope God will forgive me,” the Chief Minister said.
“In the interest of the party, betterment of the state and in the interest of BJP workers, I am confident that the party high command will take a right, correct and a good decision,” Reddy, who is spearheading the campaign for the removal of Yeddyurappa, told reporters.
Around 40 legislators, including some ministers, had been supporting the demand for Yeddyurappa’s ouster.
Yeddyurappa had already had to transfer his Principal Secretary V P Baligar as a concession to the Reddys and had signalled willingness to concede some other of their demands.
It is understood that Rural Development Minister Shoba Karanlaje, whose removal has been demanded by the dissidents, is likely to be dropped and Speaker Jagadish Shettar may be inducted into the cabinet.
The BJP dissidents in the state were headed by Janardhan Reddy and Karunakara Reddy, who camped in Delhi with their demand of change in leadership along with sacking of Rural Development Minister Shobha Karandlaje and transfer of some bureaucrats.
–Agencies