BANGALORE: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president are trying to douse the flames and play down the spat between senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley over shielding and providing political patronage to the Reddy brothers.Yeddyurappa on Saturday backed Reddy brothers by saying decision to have Janardhan Reddy, Karunakar Reddy and close associate Sriramulu in the cabinet was his decision only and not Sushma Swaraj or of anyone else.Rajnath Singh also played down the Sushma-Arun Jaitley spat, saying it was political compulsion that forced the party to make Reddy brothers ministers in Karnataka Cabinet.Singh said that neither Jaitley nor Sushma were responsible for Reddy bothers being made Karnataka ministers"The decision was only taken after my consent. I do not accept holding Sushma Swaraj or Arun Jaitley responsible. Everything happened with my consent as I was the national president at that time. If anybody wants they can hold me responsible for this and not Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj. There were some political compulsions due to which we had to take this decision and also BJP was coming to power in the south for the first time," Singh said on Saturday in Hubli.Earlier, taking on Arun Jaitley during an interview to Outlook Magazine, Sushma Swaraj has seemingly laid the blame for the promotion of corruption in Karnataka at her Rajya Sabha counterpart's door.Refuting allegations that she was the real force behind the rise of the Bellary brothers in Karnataka, who face serious corruption charges, Sushma pointed out in the interview that it was Arun Jaitley, as the BJP in-charge of Karnataka, who should be held responsible for making them ministers in the state."There can't be a bigger lie. Let me tell you the truth, I have no hand in the political making of Bellary brothers. I had nothing to do in making them ministers or building up their stature as political leaders. When the Bellary brothers were made ministers, Jaitleyji was in charge and Yeddyurappa the CM. There is a huge disinformation campaign against me. What the Bellary brothers gained is because of Jaitley and Yeddyurappa," said Sushma Swaraj.Since the BJP's election debacle in 2009, a high stakes battle has been waged on who will lead the party in the next general elections. Jaitley and Sushma are seen as the two top contenders. Her latest move is now being interpreted as taking the battle straight into Jaitley's camp.
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