No crisis in Karnataka: Arun Jaitley

Denying reports of a standoff between the Bharatiya Janata Party and former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, senior party leader Arun Jaitley said there was no political crisis in the state.

“There is no crisis in the party in Karnataka,” Jaitley told reporters here.

“There is no problem that he has created… what you are attributing to him is not the factual situation,” Jaitley said denying any standoff between the former chief minister and the party.

Yeddyurappa is reported to have set a Feb 27 deadline for the party’s central leaders to decide on his demand for reinstatement or to be officially declared the supreme leader of the party in the state. That day is his birthday and his supporters plan a big bash where he may announce his plan of action if party does not accept the demands.

The party’s ongoing meeting in Karnataka was cancelled on the second day.

Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s first chief minister in southern India, quit July 31 last year over corruption charges. The BJP came to power for the first time in Karnataka in May 2008. Assembly polls are due early next year.

BJP chief Nitin Gadkari is meanwhile holding a series of meetings here to end the power struggle in the party’s Karnataka unit in the wake of Yeddyurappa’s bid to get back the chief minister’s post.