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Final decision on BJP-JD tie-up on July 31: Patel

M D Riti in Bangalore

''The issue of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal electoral alliance will be finally resolved in Delhi on Saturday, July 31," says Karnataka chief minister J H Patel. Speaking to journalists after a function at the Vidhana Soudha banquet hall today, Patel said he has discussed the feasibility of just such an understanding with Ramakrishna Hegde and George Fernandes.

The Dal party office continues to be a bone of contention between the two rival factions. "We can also easily collect a crowd of 10,000 and take over the party office," says Patel. "We just do not like to descend to such levels. As for Deve Gowda now pressing for President's rule in Karnataka, all I can say is: he can ask for the heavens, but can we provide it to him? Sharad Yadav has made Byre Gowda state party president, so Byre Gowda should rightfully be allowed to operate from the party office," he added.

Meanwhile, the party office continues to be under police protection in the aftermath of the clashes between the two rival factions of the Dal yesterday. The main entrance has been locked up, and party workers use a small side gate to go in and out. Groups of party workers and Dal activists gather just outside the compound to discuss strategies throughout the day.

"Why should a man have to take permission from people on the road to enter his own house?" an irate and injured Byre Gowda demanded of reporters this morning, at Patel's official residence Cauvery in Bangalore. He was obviously referring to Deve Gowda's allegation that Byre Gowda and his supporters from the Patel faction of the Dal were disrupting law and order in trying to forcefully enter the party office yesterday. "After frequenting the homes of the Lok Shakthi and BJP like a son-in-law, why should he want the Dal office also as his home?" shot back Gowda, in a subsequent chat with the media.

Meanwhile, three more ministers of the Patel government have announced that they will exit the Dal if it makes an agreement with the BJP. M C Nanaiah, Moinuddin and Jaiprakash Hegde all met Patel today and made their intentions clear to him on this count.

Dal sources reveal that Patel advised them to wait until Saturday before taking any decision. Two more ministers who are clearly aligned with the Gowda camp, namely Mallakayya Guttedar and Manjunath, are also expected to hand in their resignations any time now.

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