Trouble in Karnataka seems far from over. A day after Jagadish Shettar was beaten by Sadananda Gowda for the chief minister's post in a secret ballot, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader is said to be heading to New Delhi on Friday with a long list of complaints.
Members of the Shettar faction say that there was more than what met the eye at the meeting on Wednesday. They claim that it should have been a clear victory for Shettar as he had the numbers. However, they allege that moments before the members could arrive at the venue some of the members of legislative assembly were threatened with dire consequences by former CM Yeddyurappa's faction. Some of the MLAs yielded to this threat and voted against Shettar.
Shettar and his supporters will also complain to the senior leadership in New Delhi about the manner in which the meeting was conducted on Wednesday. They allege that the proper rules were not followed.
The Shettar group was very confident of victory and a day before the crucial meetings, Shettar's office had even sent out photographs of the leader anticipating that the press may need his pictures once he becomes the chief minister. Shettar himself was confident and even claimed publicly that he had a very good chance of being the chief minister.
However, what concerns the Shettar faction even more is of losing out on plum portfolios to the Yeddyurappa faction. They will therefore seek the intervention of the senior leadership on this matter. This is one of the main reasons why the Shettar faction stayed away from the swearing in ceromony on Thursday.
