Have patience; cooperate with BJP, Gadkari tells Yeddy

With his party's government in Karnataka in throes of a burgeoning crisis over B S Yeddyurappa's demand for his reinstatement as chief minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Monday said no decision would be taken under pressure and asked him to have patience.

"The party will take an appropriate decision (on Yeddyurappa's demand) soon. But the BJP will not take any decision under pressure," Gadkari told reporters in Mumbai.

The BJP president advised the Karnataka strongman to have patience and cooperate with the party. "Yeddyurappa should have patience and should cooperate with the party which will take a decision in the matter soon," he said. Gadkari said the party had indeed assured the rebellious leader that he would be reinstated if cleared of corruption charges by the court.

"Things got delayed due to elections and now we will take a decision," he said. The party had forced Yeddyurappa to step down in July 2011 after he was indicted by the Lokyukta report on illegal mining that had kicked up a political storm in the state.

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley had sought to downplay the issue, saying it was not serious and would be resolved. "Dialogues are on between the party and Yeddyurappa. I am also personally in touch with him, its purely an internal issue and will be resolved soon," Jaitley told reporters in Gandhinagar where he was to file his nomination for Rajya Sabha poll.

Fifty-nine MLAs loyal to Yeddyurappa are lodged in a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru demanding that he be reappointed chief minister after the high court quashed the charges against him in the Lokayukta report and also the reference made by the governor to the Lokayukta to file a first information report and investigate them.

For Rediff Realtime News on the crisis in Karnataka BJP, click here!