Central BJP leaders gag Karnataka's warring groups, hum unity tune

Bangalore, Nov 18 : Rival factions in Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were Wednesday told by the party central leaders to stop airing their differences in the media, with the state party chief warning that indiscipline would not be tolerated in future.

At the end of daylong meetings central BJP leaders Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj held with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, rebel ministers, who had launched a campaign to remove him, as well with the party legislators, all sang a unity tune and pledged to strenthen the government -- the party's first in Karnataka and southern India.

"We are all united and will work for strengthening the party and improving the governance," Yeddyurappa, dissident leader Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy, state unit chief D.V. Sadananda Gowda and senior leader Venkaiah Naidu told reporters after the meeting of the party legislators.

While Naidu said partymen should not rush to the media to air differences, Sadananda Gowda warned that so far such acts of indiscipline had been tolerated for various reasons but it would no longer be so.

"Those who go to the media with differences will from henceforth stay with the media as all issues have been resolved," he warned.

The day began with a meeting of the 14-member coordination committee, constituted late Tuesday by party president Rajnath Singh to appease the dissidents who have been complaining that Yeddyurappa takes unilateral decisions and ignores ministers and legislators.

Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj attended the meetings of both the coordination committee and the legislators.

Sushma Swaraj told reporters that the Karnataka crisis "has put all of us to shame."

Terming the crisis as "a bad dream", she said it has gone away. "The crisis been resolved fully and the party has emerged stronger from it."

Naidu denied that the coordination committee was intended to curtail the powers of the chief minister, a view propagated by dissidents who have been insisting that its decision would be final on all party and government matters in Karnataka.

"It is not a government committee. It is a party committee. All states where the BJP is in power have such committees. It is in our party constitution," he said.

Yeddyurappa said, "The meetings went off well and all are happy."

Development is the only issue now.

Janardhan Reddy said: "We will work unitedly on the advice our central leaders gave us today (Wednesday)."

Yeddyurappa's close associate Shobha Karandlaje, who was dropped from the ministry on Nov 9 as part of the Nov 8 deal with the dissidents, did not attend the legislators' meeting.

The dissidents, particularly the Reddy brothers, Janardhan and his elder brother Revenue Minister Karunakara, had indicated that Sushma Swaraj would play a key role in the coordination committee.

However, the committee has Sadananda Gowda as its head and has more ministers considered close to Yeddyurappa.

Yeddyurappa's detractors in the committee include Karunakara Reddy, Bangalore South Lok Sabha member H.N. Ananth Kumar, Energy Minister K.S. Eshwarappa and Jagadish Shettar, who was sworn in as minister Tuesday after resigning as the assembly speaker Monday.

Home Minister V.S. Acharya, Transport Minister R. Ashok, IT Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, Higher Education Minister Visvesvara Hegde Kageri, Law Minister S. Suresh Kumar and Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai, all considered to be Yeddyurappa's supporters, are the other members of the committee.

Sadananda Gowda is also a supporter of Yeddyurappa but he may not continue as committee head for long as his term as state party chief is ending in December.

Two special invitees are V. Satish and Santosh, representing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).