The BJP has established a strong base in the region, mainly on the support of this community.

Shettar was elected from the Hubli rural constituency for the fourth time in a row since 1994. He has been leader of the opposition in the assembly and served as Revenue Minister in the Janata Dal (Secular)-BJP coalition government in 2006-08.

His father, S.S. Shettar, was the first Jana Sangh Mayor of the Hubli-Dharwad City Corporation while uncle Sadashiva Shettar was the first Jana Sangh member of the state assembly.

Shettar was in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its student wing Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He became the Dharwad district BJP president, secretary and later president of the state party unit.

Shettar was not known to be close to the Reddys, who have come to wield much clout in the BJP because of their proximity to senior party leader Sushma Swaraj and the financial muscle they have acquired from iron ore mining.

Hence it came as a surprise when the Reddys began to project him as an alternative leader. Apparently, his anger against Yeddyurappa has been so intense. Shettar did not mind his name being associated with the rebel campaign even when he had not quit the speaker's post.

Yeddyurappa tried in vain to win him over by offering ministership. Shettar agreed to join the ministry when he failed to get the party leadership's backing to replace Yeddyurappa.

His problems, however, are not over. He wants some of his followers also to be made ministers.

The Reddys have their own list.

The BJP central leadership announced Nov 8 that the Karnataka crisis has been resolved. It seems to have spoken a tad too early for its own comfort.