Bangalore: State BJP president D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who were in New Delhi to attend the National Executive Committee meeting of the party, met national president Rajnath Singh. They briefed him about the outburst of Bijapur MP Basanagouda Patil R. Yatnal against Mr. Yediyurappa.

Mr. Sadananda Gowda told The Hindu that it was up to the central leadership to initiate action, if any, against Mr. Yatnal. "We have placed all the reports before the high command. It is for the president to decide on the next course of action," he said. While the matter pertaining to indiscipline in the State unit of the party did not figure in the Executive Committee meeting, Mr. Rajnath Singh made it clear that the party would not tolerate acts of indiscipline in any State.

Leniency likely

Alladi Jayasri writes:

Mr. Yatnal was called to Delhi by the party's central leadership to explain his fulminations against Mr. Yediyurappa.

Mr. Yediyurappa clarified on Monday that he had not been "summoned," but was leaving for Delhi to attend the Executive Committee meeting. Others from the State who attended the meeting were Mr. Sadananda Gowda, national general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar, State organising secretary Vaman Acharya, Higher Education Minister D.H. Shankaramurthy and the Water Resources Minister K.S. Eshwarappa.

BJP sources said the central leadership might take a lenient view of the recent events after giving all sides a fair hearing, as Karnataka had become the BJP's "gateway" to the South, and it did not want to lose any ground by ruffling too many feathers. "Disgruntled party leaders will only be a liability and spoil our chances of consolidating our position," a senior BJP leader said.

As regards `Mukhyamantri' Chandru's report on the "omissions and commissions" of Mr. Yediyurappa, party sources maintained that he had ceased to be chairman of the Disciplinary Action Committee after he resigned in February. With Mr. Sadananda Gowda becoming the new president, all existing committees had ceased to exist. In the recent revamp of the party organisation, the Disciplinary Action Committee had not been constituted. "This doesn't mean that Mr. Chandru can be deemed to be a member of the committee, let alone its chairman," sources said.

The State BJP leadership has taken a dim view of Mr. Chandru's action in sending his report to Delhi, and the fact that it was "leaked" to the media. "It seems that the Disciplinary Action Committee itself needs to be disciplined," a source said, wondering how another member of that committee, Medical Education Minister V.S. Acharya, was not invited to its meeting.

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