Like a good monitor, the BJP incharge for Karnataka Arun Jaitley walked into the bedlam of the BJP classroom in Karnataka this weekend and told everybody to behave. He heard out the troublemakers and warned some of the more pesky ones. Some of the big boys did not meet Jaitley. It is safe to predict that the classroom will be quiet for a while but the bedlam will return soon.

In many ways what is happening in the ruling BJP in Karnataka is what is happening in parties that ended up losing in the parliamentary polls ? like the BJP at the national level or the CPM in Kerala. An all-out power struggle has broken out as new forces try to muscle their way into the top of the party heirarchy.

The curious thing about the strife in the BJP in Karnataka, however, is the fact that it was one of two states in the country where the party registered a resounding win in the Lok Sabha polls, the other being Himachal Pradesh. It is only in these two states that the BJP vote share has risen. The thumping victory that strengthened the hands of an already strong BS Yeddyurappa is believed to be part of the reason for factions within the party creating dissidence in an effort to protect their own interests.

With the BJP having won only 110 seats on its own in the 224 member Assembly in the 2008 polls, the party has relied on five Independents and the acquisition of five MLAs from other parties to push past the majority mark of 113.

Much of the victory in the 2008 polls and the acquisition of MLAs that saw Yeddyurappa become chief minister was engineered by a faction within the BJP helmed by the Reddy brothers ? mining businessmen from the iron ore rich district of Bellary who have little ideological moorings or mass base. But they are big on money and have the solid support of at least 17 young MLAs.

Given the BJP government?s dependence on the Reddy brothers ? who are incidentally business partners of the family of the Congress chief minister in Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajashekhar Reddy ? it was always known that the Bellary group, despite appearing low key, could shake up the government at any time.

Even before the parliamentary elections, trouble had been brewing in the ruling BJP with murmurs from ministers and MLAs over the ?autocratic? functioning of chief minister Yeddyurappa and his reliance on a coterie of ministers and family members.

The Reddy brothers were among those with a grouse about not getting their way in the government. The Reddys and their MLAs first flew the flag of revolt on May 31 by not turning up at the first anniversary bash of the BJP government held in Karnataka. KS Eswarappa, a senior leader who hails from Shimoga, the same district as the chief minister, then unleashed Shimoga politics by claiming that Yeddyurappa had embarassed the party by fielding his son from the Shimoga Lok Sabha seat. He claimed the BJP relied on money and liquor to win in Shimoga.

When Jaitley arrived to set the BJP house in order over the weekend, he did not get to meet the Reddy brothers. The other dissident groups that met Jaitley have, according to sources, sought a core committee that will address all important decisions instead of vesting all responsibility with the chief minister and his coterie.

Jaitley left Bangalore telling reporters, ?I have directed all leaders in the state to work in tandem and indulge in nothing that would harm the image of the party?. He called the differences in the party ?minor?.