The tussle for power in Karnataka continued as the BJP on Thursday toughened its stand, ruling out any negotiations of the power-sharing agreement with the JD(S) as well any change in its chief ministerial candidate BS Yediyurappa even as chief minister HD Kumaraswamy threatened to dissolve the state Assembly and go for snap polls.
Briefing reporters here after the meeting of the Parliamentary Board of the party, BJP vice president and in-charge of Karnataka Yashwant Sinha said,? ??The central leadership has approved all the actions, which have till now been taken by the party?s state unit on the issue of power transfer and reiterated the party position that the agreement between us had to be implemented.??
Questioning the political conduct of its coalition partner JD(S), Sinha said there was no going back on what had been agreed upon. ??Yediyurappa is our chief ministerial candidate and the issue is non-negotiable?? he said.
Taking stock of the political situation in Karnataka, state and central BJP leaders involved in the negotiations in Bangalore briefed the Parliamentary Board about the developments in the state. The leaders also decided to meet again on Saturday to take a fresh look at the emerging situation after party president Rajnath Singh meets JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda on Friday.
When asked, till when the party would wait for the JD(S) to blink and handover the baton in the state, Sinha said, ??I will not be able to answer that today. Deve Gowda is meeting our national president tomorrow, things will become clear only after that.??
Asked to comment on Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy?s remarks in Bangalore that his party would rather prefer to go for elections than handing over power to BJP, Sinha said the BJP ?disapproved? such utterances by ?responsible? people. ??We have noted the remarks made by some responsible people. We do not approve this, but at the same time since we want to abide by coalition dharma, we do not want to say any thing petty to vitiate the atmosphere. If required, we will answer them at an appropriate time,?? he asserted.