That's what inside sources allege, as excise minister Renukacharya, the man leading the rebellion, has been seen as a Yeddyurappa loyalist

Is Yeddyurappa staging a crisis?

That's what inside sources allege, as excise minister Renukacharya, the man leading the rebellion, has been seen as a Yeddyurappa loyalist

It is money that seems be playing a major role in the supposed political crisis threatening to topple the Yeddyurappa government, and sources say that Rs 100 crore is at stake.

In a soup: BJP State President KS Eshwarappa spoke to the media after meeting CM BS Yeddyurappa at his residence yesterday.
Pic/Satish Badiger

Speculations were rife yesterday, about JD(S) offering Rs 10 crore per BJP legislator to take them into its fold, while 20 MLAs were holed up in a resort near Chennai, under the leadership ofu00a0 excise minister Renukacharya.
Sources said that the chief minister camp made a similar offer, while bargaining continued late after mid-night.
Interestingly, buzz on the chief minister engineering the whole crisis in a bid to divert the media attention from the land scams pestering him did the rounds amid the high drama.

As if to prove it right, one of the main demands from the rebels is to sack IT Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu whom the chief minister is reportedly trying to get rid of, while Renukacharya, who is leading the team is identified as among his loyalists of late.

The spotlight was on former chief minister and state working president of JD(S)H D Kumaraswamy, who reportedly has a mandate from the Congress to topple the BJP government. He is understood to have been pulling the strings, while Congress leaders are waiting for an outcome, whatever it may be.

Money matters
"Money is the main criterion, while there are other demands from the rebels," said a senior leader in the BJP. "The fate of the government is dependent on the fact that whose money among Kumaraswamy and Yeddyurappa reaches out to the MLAs."

The political scene got heated up yesterday morning, with the news of Renukacharya taking dissidents out of the state. The rebels include Goolihatti Shekar, Shivana Gowda Nayak, Balachandra Jarakiholi, Belur Gopalakrishna, and others.

While it looked like the JD(S) had almost clinched the deal, BJP emissaries led by R Ashok, and Sriramulu landed in Tamil Nadu with a special message from the CM. However, no side got the edge toward the end of the day with the deadlock continued.

"It's a scripted drama and will last for two more days," said a source in the BJP. "But, the situation is expected to return to normalcy only after the so-called rebels get their demands including cash and kind fulfilled."
CM, after calling a special cabinet meeting for today, said, "Everything will be all right and there is absolutely no reason to worry about. My government is stable and it will remain so."

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