A day after the Karnataka Lokayukta recommended his prosecution over illegal mining in the state, the BJP Parliamentary party asked BS Yeddyurappa to quit, prompting the chief minister to indicate his willingness to resign to BJP chief Nitin Gadkari. He is yet to submit his resignation to the state governor.
“The BJP Parliamentary board unanimously decided there has to be a change in the leadership of the BJP legislature party in the state of Karnataka. Accordingly, it has advised Yeddyurappa, the present chief minister, to tender his resignation immediately,? BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said on Thursday morning.
However, that was not the end of it. The chief minister left for Bangalore, where he was greeted by 10 ministers from his Cabinet at the airport. Buoyed by this, Yeddyurappa decided to call a cabinet meeting in the afternoon, but later backtracked when the party’s central leadership made it clear that rebellion would only make matters worse for him.
?He was told very clearly that if he went quietly, then he would have some say in who would be his successor. If he rebelled then he would be sacked,? said a senior party leader. By evening, several cabinet colleagues of Yeddyurappa, like education minister VS Acharya and home minister R Ashok confirmed that Yeddyurappa would be quitting. At a meeting called by him in the evening, four MLAs turned up.
The central leadership has deputed former party president Rajnath Singh and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley to ascertain from the BJP legislative party as to who would be the next chief minister of the state.
A legislative party meeting to elect a new leader is likely be held on Friday, according to a party official.
Several names started doing the rounds for the chief minister’s post. Former party chief in the state Sadananda Gowda was closeted with party president Nitin Gadkari for a long time, triggering speculation that he would be the natural choice.
?The problem lies not only in the fact that Yeddyurappa has hardly any alternative in the state, but that he also holds a large chunk of the Lingayat vote, the largest vote bank in the state,? said a senior leader.
Gowda is a Vokkaliga, second only to Lingayats in influence.
As the relative merits of various leaders were being debated, former Union minister Ananth Kumar emerged as a dark horse in the game. Some senior Delhi leaders have started lobbying for him.
Yeddyurappa, it is said, has dug in his heels deeper after hearing that, as Kumar is his bete noire. ?He has promised that Kumar’s own alleged scams during his tenure in the NDA would be made public,? said a senior leader.