Umesh Katti-Siddaramaiah phone talk sets tongues wagging

Bengaluru: Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Umesh Katti held talks with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on the phone Wednesday night, setting off speculation that he could be quitting the party over  his disappointment at not being given a Cabinet berth in the Yediyurappa government.

But sources close to him said the entire episode was blown out of proportion and Mr Katti had no such intention.

According to sources, it was Janata Dal (Secular) leader Basavaraj Horatti, who met Mr Katti at his home Wednesday night and requested him to join the Janata Parivar and strengthen it.

Although Mr Katti reportedly showed little interest, Mr Horatti called Mr Siddaramaiah and got him to speak to the BJP MLA on the phone.

While Mr Siddaramaiah too tried to persuade Mr Katti to join the Janata Parivar saying he was not cut out for the BJP, the legislator reminded him that the BJP had made him a minister in the past and it was not fair to criticise it and hung up, sources said.

When contacted, Mr Katti said he planned to attend the function at the BJP party office where a new party chief would take over and then visit his hometown,  making it clear that he had no plans to meet Mr Siddaramaiah or of quitting the BJP. It's unclear whether Mr Horatti was sent by the Gowda family to test his mood in the guise of inviting him to join the Janata Parivar  as in the past, Mr Katti has openly criticised the Janata Dal (Secular), calling it  a father-and-son party, which gave no room for anyone else to grow as a politician.