CM loses his cool, again!

After H D Deve Gowda brings up donation scam allegedly involving Yeddyurappa at zero hour in Lok Sabha, CM walks into secret meeting by party members, slaps driver on the way out

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's tolerance levels seem to be wearing thin as once again he lost his cool and slapped someone. Yesterday, his car driver seems to have been in range for one that he let fly.


The plot: Yeddyuruppa's ire was fuelled after he allegedly barged into
a meeting of BJP MLAs indulging in a secret signature campaign against him

Chaotic scenes dominated the assembly and council in the state in zero hour after former Prime Minister, H D Deve Gowda raised the issue of the donation scam and resignation of the CM in the Lok Sabha, which seems to have added to Yeddyurappa's distress.

Yeddyuruppa's ire was further fuelled after he barged into a meeting of BJP MLAs indulging in a secret signature campaign against him in the presence of the state president K S Eswarappa and H N Ananthkumar, MP from Bangalore (South) and Yeddyurappa's main detractor. The over fifty strong group was allegedly discussing the internal politics of the party. An awkward silence prevailed during the showdown and Yeddyurappa left the scene visibly ruffled.

Still in a foul mood, the CM unleashed his temper on the car driver. Sources said that there was a brief communication gap between driver and CM gestured to the driver to stop the car so that he could speak to media persons who were in the vicinity. The driver did not see him signaling and Yeddyuruppa planted a stinging slap across his face.

Hush hush...
Sources claimed that Eswarappa is lobbying for Chief Minister post, while a section of party high command wants to get rid of Yeddyurappa on corruption charges. To checkmate his move, Yeddyurappa proposed the name of Shobha Karandlaje.

"We were so upset that we expressed our lack of confidence in the CM at the meeting," said a legislator. "We didn't feel guilty because we are airing our grievances with the party president after all."

Nothing new
Apparently, the latest slap gate incident does not seem to be the first. Siddalinga Swamy, Yeddyurappa's man Friday said, "There nothing unusual about Yeddyurappa slapping drivers and assistants as he is short-tempered. But, nobody thinks anything about it as they know that he does it when he is under stress. I have received this treatment many times." Swamy claims to have received the maximum number of these stress busters from his leader, the CM.

Slap gate

' Last year, Yeddyurappa slapped his bodyguard after reporters asked him questions about a possible resignation over his family's alleged involvement in land scams

'Media reports surfaced of Yeddyurappa slapping his Principal Secretary V P Baligar last year

'BJP activist and senior advocate S Doreraj was aspiring to become a law minister, but Yeddyurappa made him state special public prosecutor. When Doreraj expressed his displeasure, Yeddyurappa slapped him

'Siddalinga Swamy, Yeddyurappa's Man Friday, is a regular target of his fury