'K'taka to have elections this year after BSY starts party'

Bangalore, Jan 23: Opposition Leader in the Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday said the state may hold an early assembly election "any time this year" as he claimed former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was poised to float a new political party.

"Yeddyurappa forming a new political outfit is imminent which will prompt the state to go for an early assembly election any time this year," he told reporters here. The statewide tour across Karnataka by Yeddyurappa is not to strengthen the BJP, but to "blackmail" the party's central leadership and pressurising them to reinstate him as chief minister, Siddaramaiah said.

"Yeddyurappa is blackmailing the BJP central leadership by taking up statewide tour. He wants himself to be reinstated as chief minister. The tour is nothing to do with the strengthening of BJP," he said. There is no future for BJP in the state as it was "totally a divided house," Siddaramaiah said.

The differences in the Congress, however, had been sorted out, he said. "There were some differences earlier, but it has been resolved after holding talks with some disgruntled Congress MLAs like B C Patil," Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah also dismissed reports of a changing of guard in the state leadership. There had been reports in a section of the press that G Parameshwar would be replaced as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President.

PTI