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Bangalore, Aug. 7: A comment posted by BJP chief L.K. Advani on his blog about the party’s “bungling” in Karnataka has fuelled a chain reaction in the state with B.S. Yeddyurappa taking strong exception to the view.
The former chief minister today shot off a three-page letter countering the view and offered to meet him in person to clear the air.
The letter was not released to the media, perhaps driving home a point to Advani who blogged his views.
In his blog dated August 5, 2012, Advani had written about the party’s prospects in the next general elections. In substantiating his opinion, he wrote: “So far as the BJP is concerned, the bungling in Karnataka notwithstanding, all recent public opinion surveys clearly reveal that the principal beneficiary of the Congress Party’s fast eroding reputation continues to be the BJP !”
The blog post is meanwhile opening new fissures in the state party unit with Yeddyurappa virtually chiding former chief minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda for endorsing Advani’s view.
Earlier in the day, before he shot out the letter, Yeddyurappa told reporters that he was upset with Gowda’s remarks.
“He is a former chief minister and must show some responsibility before making such statements,” said Yeddyurappa.
“Without making such snide remarks, he (Gowda) must come out and speak openly if he is trying to indicate there were instances of corruption during my tenure as chief minister,” said the man who himself is facing several charges of corruption and is on bail after being arrested in a case of land scam last year.
The comment in Advani’s blog had set tongues wagging in the BJP establishment in the state that is gearing up for its own elections in May 2013.
While there is little doubt about the animosity between Yeddyurappa and Gowda, it is a well-known fact that Advani never liked the Lingayat strongman who claims to be the numero uno BJP leader in the state.
On the contrary, Advani had backed Gowda during the Yeddyurappa-sponsored rebellion that finally unseated him in July.
In a surprise addition to the situation, governor H.R. Bharadwaj today said in Mysore, near here, that “corruption was rampant three years ago.”
The governor, who was referring to the tenure of Yeddyurappa, was unrelenting in his scathing attack on the BJP government by saying, “People like me have spent sleepless nights” over the slew of corruption charges against ruling party members.
With Yeddyurappa trying to make a comeback in time for the May 2013 state polls, party sources say any spat between him and the central leaders would only vitiate the atmosphere in the party that has seen many ups and downs over the last few years.
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