Kumaraswamy fails to turn up for meeting with BJP

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was jolted on Wednesday when chief minister designate H.D. Kumaraswamy did not turn up for his scheduled meetings in Delhi with party heavyweights.

The party had gone for a major build up over Kumaraswamy's proposed visit and proposed joint conference with BJP leaders at the residence of the party's former president M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Trying to put on a brave face, the BJP leaders, particularly Naidu, said that there was nothing to "worry about the alliance and it had nothing to lose".

However, there were also murmurs of "communication gap" and Naidu said that Kumaraswamy expressed his inability to reach the capital "through a friend".

Earlier, speaking to the media, Kumaraswamy's father and the Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Deve Gowda asked his son "not to have any truck with BJP". Appearing tense, the saffron leaders also spoke of the "emotional pressure" being put on Kumaraswamy by his father.

Meanwhile, with Kumaraswamy scheduled to take oath on February 3, Deputy Chief Minister-designate B.S. Yediyurappa, state BJP Chief Jagdish Shettar and party's general secretary from the state Ananth Kumar have also rushed to the capital.

As for the schedule, which never took off, Kumarswamy was expected to meet former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and BJP President Rajnath Singh besides attending a lunch hosted by Naidu.

Even though Naidu claimed that a high court case in Karnataka was also a reason to hold him back in the state, the Chief Minister-designate himself told reporters in Bangalore that he was "a bit tired" after the hectic schedule in the past few days.

Also, during his recent visit to Tirupati, Kumarswamy had said that he was "facing a dilemma over leading the coalition of the JD[S] and the BJP in the wake of widespread aspersions cast on the secular credentials of his father."

He indicated that it was a "political compulsion, which was forcing him towards the BJP".

Claiming Kumaraswamy would come to Delhi "before or after taking the oath", Naidu said: "It was Kumaraswamy's desire to meet BJP leaders as he wanted a long-term friendship with BJP."

"It was Kumaraswamy's desire to meet BJP leaders as he wanted a long-term friendship with BJP."