Karnataka BJP crisis deepens; 52 rebels quit

New Delhi, Nov 6 (ANI): There seems to be no end to the bitter political battle in Karnataka. The BJP central leadership has not been able to defuse the crisis.

Fifty-two rebel MLAs have reportedly faxed their resignations to Janardhan Reddy, who is with the Speaker of the Assembly, Jagdish Shettar in Delhi. Reports say that state Chief Minister Yeddyruppa has denied this development.

Meanwhile, the Reddy brothers have toughened their stand. They have stuck to their demand of removing Shobha Karandlaje, the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister.

Yeddyruppa has agreed to it, but wants to reinstate her as the state BJP chief. The rebels have not agreed to that. They also want a few others known to be close to Yeddyruppa to go.

Senior BJP leaders are holding hectic talks with the two factions. One headed by Yeddurappa and the other led by the rebel Reddy brothers who want a change in leadership.

After days of hectic parleys, the BJP had come up with the new compromise formula on Thursday. As per the formula, Yeddyurappa would continue as chief minister and Karnataka Rural Development Minister Shobha might be dropped from the cabinet.

However, the compromise formula was facing a bit of opposition.

Yeddyurappa on Thursday met BJP leaders LK Advani, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar.owever, the CM has been asked to be flexible to the demands of the rebels.

"I hope the high command listens to us in the interest of the party. I will not meet Yeddyruppa at all," said the Reddy brothers after their meeting with Venkaiah Naidu.

The party has been struggling to find a solution to the ongoing tussle between the Karnataka Chief Minister and mining barons - the Reddy brothers.

"99 percent of all issues will be resolved today. We must sit together, discuss and resolve issues," said a confident Yeddyruppa.

Earlier, Sushma Swaraj had held several rounds of discussion with the Reddy brothers to find a way out of the crisis, but no consensus has been reached yet.

The meeting has come at a time when the BJP leadership reportedly weaned away Assembly speaker Jagdish Shettar from the rebel camp. The Reddy brothers had propped up Shettar as their choice for the next chief minister.

The CM had a midnight meeting with rebel leader Jagdish Shettar, the man being projected by the Reddy camp as Yeddyurappa's successor. Senior BJP leader Anant Kumar acted as the mediator.

Yeddyruppa has also cancelled the cabinet meeting that was to be convened in Bangalore today. (ANI)