Gowda had planned a sudden visit to Delhi today to meet the party's central leaders in the wake of a renewed bid by the B S Yeddyurappa faction seeking his scalp.
"As a Chief Minister, going to Delhi can't be questioned by anybody. At present I have got certain works in Delhi. So I need to go there", Gowda said but dismissed reports of change of leadership, saying there had been "speculation" ever since the party came to power in the State. "It continues".
But minutes later, the Chief Minister cancelled the trip after the party leadership let it be known that there is no need for him to come to the capital, party sources said.
His hopes of regaining chiefministership having been dashed by the party central leadership which has asked to come clean in corruption cases, Yeddyurappa is propping up the candidature of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Jagadish Shettar to replace Gowda.
A section of the MLAs is also strongly backing Gowda, warning that replacing him would lead to their resignation and they would bring down the Government.
Showcasing the achievements of the first-ever BJP government in the South for the last four years, Gowda released a book titled "Four Years of All Embracing Development" at the press conference.
Keeping up their pressure, ministers and MLAs loyal to Yeddyurappa met at the residence of Shettar to take stock of the developments and discussed their future course. (MORE)
