Karnataka BJP crisis: Yeddyurappa to meet supporters

Bengaluru, May 14(ANI): A day after Karnataka Chief Minister S. D. Gowda talked of an "amicable solution" to the ongoing crisis within the state Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa upped the ante, saying he is likely to meet his supporters here on Monday.

Reportedly, the Yeddyurappa lobby has claimed that state cabinet ministers have resigned to express solidarity with him, a view challenged by Gowda on Sunday.

"See, so far I have not received any resignation letters either from the ministers or from the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs)," Gowda had said in New Delhi.

On Sunday, Yeddyurappa's praise for Congress President Sonia Gandhi caused major embarrassment to the BJP.

"I have to praise Sonia Gandhi. I noticed that Congress party and its people are united and supportive if any one of their party members gets into trouble. They help each other and resolve the problems," Yeddyurappa told a gathering.

Yeddyurappa was forced to quit from his post of state chief after the Lokayukta report indicted him in the illegal mining scam and also for his alleged role in irregularities in allotment of prime land to his own kith and kin.

Since Yeddyurappa's ouster as the state chief, his loyalists have been demanding for a party meet after a secret letter, reportedly written by current Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda to the party high command, seeking disciplinary action against the legislators who backed Yeddyurappa was leaked. (ANI)