Legislators threat to stage an agitation did not pose a problem for BS Yeddyurappa, as he successfully went ahead with his reshuffle

CM puts his men in place

Legislators threat to stage an agitation did not pose a problem for BS Yeddyurappa, as he successfully went ahead with his reshuffle

As legislators' revolt threatsu00a0 turned to nothing but a hoax yesterday, Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa went ahead with his plans of reshuffling the cabinet.

Vijayi Bhava! Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa interacting with his supporters after leaving his residence at Race Course Road to attend the cabinet extension meeting at Vidhan Soudha yesterday. Pic/Satish Badiger

In his senses
Shekar, who visited the Minakshi temple in Mudurai in Tamil Nadu, after he came to know that his ouster was certain, said, "I was emotional on Monday and had thought of committing suicide. But now I am in my senses and have realised that power is not everything. The voters in my constituency are with me, and I will live for them."

Sagar MLA Belur Gopalkrishna, who had said 20 MLAs would resign if he was not given a ministerial berth on Monday, had to eat his words yesterday, with no legislator showing the signs, even after he was not taken into the cabinet. Renukacharya, with whom Belur is identified, is understood to have advised him otherwise, and Gopalkrishna ended up expressing his solidarity to the CM.

Not only did his statementu00a0 earn him a show-cause notice from the party, but Belur now owes an explanation for his indiscipline. "I have not received the notice yet, but I will abide by the party rules as a disciplined party member."u00a0 When he was reminded of his threat, he said he did not remember saying such a thing.

Coming to terms
Shivana Gowda Naik had said he would resign even as a legislator, if he was sacked as Library Minister. However, he seemed to be coming to terms with it, when the CM sent a communication to the governor about his removal along with Shekar and Minister for Higher Education Aravinda Limbavali.

Although the Reddy brothers tried to pull off a political coup against Yeddyurappa by gathering dissatisfied MLAs at Health Minister Sriramulu's residence, they could not muster the required numbers. By evening when they tested their strength at Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Jagdish Shettr's residence, the number had dwindled to 23, and the CM had already sent out the list of legislators to be appointed as ministers in the Rajbhavan.

Shobha Karandlaje, V Somanna, CH Vijayashankar, AS Ramadass, CC Patil, and A Narayanaswamy will take oath at 9.30 am today as scheduled.

HN Ananth Kumar, who was spearheading the dissidence in Delhi, apparently lost steam yesterday, with the high command not paying a heed.

"I have to concentrate on the national politics as I am given certain responsibilities as a national leader," he said in Delhi. "The Karnataka affairs are entirely left to the state unit president KS Eswarappa and in-charge Shantha Kumar, and I have nothing to do with it."

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