Truce in K'taka, CM says birthday gift for Advani

The 14 days old Karnataka crisis is finally over.

Terming the truce a birthday gift to L K Advani, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and the 'rebel' Janardhan Reddy said – at a joint press conference -- that the crisis is over and they are returning to Karnataka to work for the flood-relief victims.

Both leaders said the differences had been worked out jointly. "We will return to Bangalore together," they said outside Sushma Swaraj's house in New Delhi. They also said that they would tour Northern Karnataka together where floods wreaked havoc.

Janardhan Reddy said, "We have listened to our mother (Sushma Swaraj). As per her directive, we have decided to put an end to the crisis. The BJP will complete its five-year term in the state and we will work jointly with the chief minister for the welfare of the state."

Although both leaders did not spell out in detail about the compromise formula, sources in the BJP told rediff.com that the first change that would be noticed is the change of six ministers in the Karnataka cabinet. However the ministers would not be changed overnight, but would be done in a phased manner.

Apart from having a vetting team comprising senior leaders, the formula includes dropping Shobha Karandlage, Basavaraj Bommai, Hartal Halappa and Bache Gowda from the cabinet.