The Hindu : Front Page : Crisis over; Yeddyurappa, Reddys to work together

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Monday, Nov 09, 2009
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Crisis over; Yeddyurappa, Reddys to work together

Neena Vyas and J. Balaji

Coordination panel to be set up for taking major decisions

— Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Deal struck: BJP leader Ananth Kumar, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, Tourism Minister B. Janardhana Reddy and Health Minister Sriramulu celebrate at the residence of L.K. Advani in New Delhi on Sunday after a compromise formula was worked out.

NEW DELHI: The fortnight-long political crisis in the Karnataka BJP ended on Sunday with a truce announced in the presence of Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani, party president Rajnath Singh and senior leader Sushma Swaraj. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and rebel leader Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy held hands together before news cameras in a show of solidarity.

“The crisis has been resolved amicably and both Mr.Yeddyurappa and Mr. Reddy will go back to Bangalore and start working for the betterment of the State from tomorrow. It is a happy coincidence that a solution has been found on the birthday of Mr. Advani which I consider a birthday gift,” Ms. Swaraj told journalists after successfully arranging a face-to-face discussion between the Chief Minister and Mr. Reddy at her residence for the final deal.

Mr. Reddy’s supporter, Health Minister B. Sriramulu, State president Sadananda Gowda and BJP MP from Karnataka H.N. Ananth Kumar were among those present during the final touches to the compromise formula that had more or less been worked out on Friday.

No word on details

While officially there was no word on the details of the “deal,” privately some senior leaders said the compromise was worked out around the main point — that there would be no change in the leadership in the State, meaning, Mr. Yeddyurappa would continue as Chief Minister. The other important component was that a number of recent decisions taken by the Chief Minister that had irked Mr. Janardhana Reddy and his brother Karunakara Reddy would be revoked and a coordination committee set up for taking major decisions. One or more of the Reddy brothers would be members of the panel.

The two factions visited Mr. Advani’s residence to greet him on his birthday and announce the end of their war. Besides Mr. Rajnath Singh, senior party leaders M. Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley were present.

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