Karnataka tourism minister firm in oust Yeddyurappa stand

Bangalore, Nov 7 : Dissident Karnataka Minister G. Janardhana Reddy, who is leading a campaign for the removal of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, has displayed amazing consistency in his stand as well as in his statements on the turmoil for the past nearly a fortnight.

The oust Yeddyurappa campaign began Oct 26, and since then the tourism minister's favourite statement, made in Kannada, has been: "We want the BJP to rule Karnataka not for five but 50 years. For this we need a better leadership. I am confident that our leaders will take the right decision in two, three days."

Even after 13 days, not a word has changed its place. The sequence remains as steady as the demand for Yeddyurappa's scalp.

After he went to New Delhi for talks with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leaders on Tuesday, his stand remained the same, but with added information.

"I have explained to our 'thayi' (mother) Sushma Swaraj, and other leaders Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar, and through them to Rajnath Singh (BJP president) and L.K. Advani. I am confident they will take the right decision in the interests of the BJP, its lakhs of workers and Karnataka in two, three days."

Janardhana Reddy and his brothers, the elder G. Karunakara Reddy, who is revenue minister, and the younger G. Somashekara Reddy, a legislator, joined the BJP in 1999, just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

In comparison, their present target Yeddyurappa began his public life 22 years ago. He then became president of the Shikaripura Taluk Jana Sangh, a precursor of the BJP. Shikaripura is in Shimoga district, about 270 km from here.

The Reddy brothers canvassed for Sushma Swaraj, who had then taken on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in Bellary in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls. This brought the Reddy brothers from Bellary close to her.

Since then Janardhana Reddy calls her 'thayi' Susham Swaraj.