Jaitley to visit Karnataka to review situation

New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley will visit Karnataka Friday to take a stock of the situation in the crisis-ridden party-run state government, party sources said Thursday.

Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, will be meeting former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who has been agitating for the replacement of his successor D.V. Sadananda Gowda, during his two-day visit to the state. Dharmendra Pradhan, who is in charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka, will accompany him, party sources added.

Yeddyurappa was the first BJP chief minister in south India, but a crisis has been looming over the state unit ever since his removal last year on charges of corruption.

Last Saturday, he claimed securing resignations of nine state ministers loyal to him in a bid to force the BJP leaders to replace Gowda -- originally his chosen successor -- with another person of his choice.

Yeddyurappa had indicated he would resign from the party Monday but he announced he had put off the decision following calls from party chief Nitin Gadkari as well as Jaitley.