Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Nov 20: It is gathered that chief minister, B S Yediyurappa, has promised to make Roshan Baig a member of the legislative council soon. In exchange, Baig has agreed to work for the success of BJP candidate, Sharavana, in Shivajinagar constituency here. It is said that to accommodate deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi, Roshan Baig and R Shankar, who happen to be disqualified MLAs, in the legislative council, three MLCs close to Yediyurappa, Lehar Singh, Ravikumar, and Rudre Gowda have reportedly agreed to sacrifice their seats.

Everyone was surprised when Roshan Baig was not fielded by the BJP from Shivajinagar seat. It is now being said that the BJP wanted to stay clear of the controversy which would have been created if Baig, who has been named in the IMA scam, was given the ticket. Now, the plan is to field Baig from the party if his name is cleared by the agencies in the said scam. If that is not possible, Baig would be fielded as an independent and his victory would be ensured by the BJP.

During his discussions with the chief minister, Roshan Baig is understood to have said that it would be hard to suddenly take a soft stance towards the BJP after being a vehement critic of the saffron party for long. He therefore offered to work clandestinely to ensure the victory of BJP candidate, Saravana. As part of the plan, Baig's supporters will campaign for the BJP.

Reports say that Ravikumar, who has the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad background, has readily agreed to leave his seat for the survival of the government. Lehar Singh and Rudre Gowda are close confidantes of Yediyurappa and therefore he will not find it hard to convince them to resign, sources say.