Shaky ground for DVS

BANGALORE: In what seemed a departure from his earlier stand, perhaps after sensing the mood in the BJP central leadership, Minister for Municipal Administration Balachandra Jarkiholi said that he would accept anyone anybody chosen by the high command as the leader.“We may have our views but the party high command is supreme. I and my supporters will abide by the bosses in Delhi,” Jarkiholi told reporters after calling on Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda at his home office here on Saturday.The minister, however, denied of having made any U-turn but asserted that he had always stood by the decision of the high command.The statement is noteworthy as the minister had only recently said that he and his supporters will bring down the BJP government if Gowda is removed and his predecessor B S Yeddyurappa is brought in.The U-turn could be ascribed to the minister sensing a pro-Yeddyurappa tilt by the central leaders in the next few days.Jarkiholi along with another minister Anand Asnotikar had recently called on many central BJP leaders, including party president Nitin Gadkari, senior leader L K Advani, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and former party president Rajnath Singh.It may be recalled that Jarkiholi had held a meeting of his supporters, about 16 MLAs, in Bellary at around the same time when Yeddyurappa and 70 of his supporting MLAs were camping in a resort in Bangalore‘CABINET EXPANSION AFTER SESSION’SHIMOGA: The state Cabinet expansion and the appointment of chairmen for various boards will be taken up only after the Budget Session, said state BJP president K S Eshwarappa.He said confusion in the state BJP and minor differences that cropped up among various state leaders has been resolved by the central party leadership.Addressing the media here on Saturday, Eshwarappa, while pointing out that the district has witnessed many a development work after the BJP came to power, said that ongoing projects are progressing at full swing, for which the government has sanctioned adequate funds.He denied that the contribution to Shimoga district in the recent state budget wasn’t encouraging.On whether Shimoga will be represented in the Cabinet, the BJP state president, also an MLA, merely replied: “Wait and watch.”