Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and party leaders are completely at odds on the issue of disqualified MLAs, with a viral video giving a glimpse of the alienation of the CM within his own party.
In the video leaked on Friday, the Chief Minister is seen criticising party leaders during an internal meeting held last week to discuss the crucial December 5 bypolls.
“The tone in which you have been speaking, I don’t think you mean to help save this government,” he is heard telling party leaders in a 7-minute clip. “Today, I’m deeply hurt. I did not expect this from you.”
Stressing that the disqualified MLAs were the reason for “the party coming to power”, Yediyurappa, in an emotional outburst, said that he felt like “having committed a crime by making rebels trust him”.
The speech was made at a meeting of party workers on October 27 in Hubballi.
The BJP has been battling rebellion from within over fielding the disqualified Congress and JD(S) MLAs as candidates for the bypolls. Several BJP rebels have rejected the posts offered to them in boards and corporations, which was the CM’s way of placating them.
The disqualification of the 17 ‘rebel’ MLAs under the anti-defection law caused the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition, paving the way for the BJP to form the government. While the rebels have challenged their disqualification in the Supreme Court, Yediyurappa does not want to leave them stranded.
“You know that the decision regarding these 17 MLAs were not taken by me or other leaders in Karnataka. National President of the party (Amit Shah) handled this and made them stay in Mumbai, where they were put up for 2-3 months, away from the electorate and their family members,” Yediyurappa said. “They have been fooled for trusting us. Not a single one of you is speaking in their favour.”
Not sparing even senior leaders who shared the stage with him, Yediyurappa said: “I wasn’t behind the CM’s post. I’ve been the CM 3-4 times already. My only intention of bringing BJP to power to do good work for the people of the state.”
Stating that he had never felt “this hurt”, Yediyurappa also assured party workers of letting the central leadership know their concerns.
“If you had spoken about the difficulty in ensuring the victory of the disqualified MLAs, I wouldn’t have been this hurt. But whom are you trying to please,” he is heard saying.