Yeddy’s seer ignorance of ’S’ factor

CM Yed seems to have ignored sage advice by not removing friend Shobha Karandlaje from cabinet, to his detriment

Yeddy's seer ignorance of 'S' factor

CM Yed seems to have ignored sage advice by not removing friend Shobha Karandlaje from cabinet, to his detriment

Besides the stars and the swine incident of last week, there is another 'S' factor at work against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's efforts to remain in control of his party in the assembly, say those in the know.

This S factor is Shobha Karandlaje, a minister Yediyurappa is said to be very close to and whom he has refused to remove from the cabinet.

Things are believed to have worsened for Yediyurappa because he did not follow the advice of prominent seers to remove Shobha.

Seers from prominent mutts such as Siddaganga Mutt's Shivakumar Swamiji and Belimutt's Shivrudra Mahaswamiji tried to resolve the crisis triggered in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a rebellion of party members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) against Shobha.

Among the rebels are the brothers Janardana and Karunakara Reddy of Bellary, M P Renukacharya, Y Sampagi and Belur Gopala Krishna.

Shivakumar Swamiji is believed to have sent the chief minister a message asking him to remove Shobha, but to no avail.

The chief minister is not taking into confidence even the seers mediating between him and the rebels, said sources in the party.

"Shobha Karandlaje's removal was the prime demand of rebel MLAs in touch with the Siddaganga Swamiji," said a source negotiating with the chief minister's camp. "But a delay by the chief minister to reach a decision on this even after the seers advised him to do so has upset them, who were backing him."

Seers or Shobha?
May be because they feel Yediyurappa has chosen Shobha over them, the seers, who till recently were backing Yediyurappa, are now said to be supporting the MLAs who have rebelled.

A group of rebel MLAs, including Renukacharya, Sampagi and Krishna, who are in touch with seers of mutts such as Suttur Mutt, Chitradurga Mutt, Beli Mutt and Siddaganga Mutt, are learnt to have expressed their unhappiness over Shobha"s interference in departments other than her own.

They complained about Yediyurappa giving undue importance to her.

"BJP leaders are in touch with seers and have given them the reason behind their dissent, but have promised to support the chief minister if he agrees to their demands," said Putraju, a BJP leader.u00a0u00a0

The Siddaganga seer, who sources said has been making efforts to resolve the differences since Wednesday after rebel BJP MLAs met him, is believed to be still on the job, but the Belimutt seer is said to have stepped back in disappointment.