BSY relents, to quit today
Pro-Yeddyurappa camp against selection of Ananth Kumar as CM
After resisting for two days, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday announced that he would submit his resignation on Sunday as per the directive of the BJP parliamentary board.
Yeddyurappa, who had been claiming that he should be allowed to continue as the chief minister since he enjoyed the support of the majority of legislators, said in a signed statement that he would resign on Sunday afternoon. “I, hereby, again clarify that I am submitting my resignation on the afternoon of 31-7-2011,” the release said.
According to sources, the party will convene the BJP Legislature Party meeting within an hour of Yeddyurappa’s resignation. Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar, party MP Sadananda Gowda, state BJP President K S Eshwarappa and Higher Education Minister V S Acharya appear to be the front- runners for the top post.
Party central leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, who have been camping in the City for the last two days to ensure transfer of power, have not been able to find a successor to Yeddyurappa. They have been eliciting the opinions of legislators during a one-on-one meeting with them and they have so far met 117 of the 121 MLAs.
As the hectic political developments continued for the third day in a row, Yeddyurappa, who has been adopting a tough posture ever since the party central leadership asked him to demit the office in the wake of Lokayukta findings, met central observers Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley at a hotel at 6 am.
Yeddyurappa, who cancelled his visit to Siddaganga Mutt in Tumkur on Saturday morning, met the leaders and reiterated his by now-known demands that he should have a say in naming his successor and he should be made the president to lead the party in the next elections.
According to party sources, the leaders did not accede to his demands and wanted him to submit his resignation. Yeddyurappa vehemently opposed party MP and his bete noire Ananth Kumar, succeeding him in the State.
Embattled Yeddyurappa has been mostly confined to his house for the last two days and a staunch chief minister loyalist Basavaraj Bommai read out a release stating that the chief minister would tender his resignation on July 31 following the decision of the party’s parliamentary board and instruction from BJP central leaders.
A source close to Yeddyurappa said that the chief minister would be quitting the office around 3 pm. He is likely to attend a function of Balija community in the morning organised at Palace Grounds.
The release came after the central leaders are understood have told the chief minister that the party was not averse to expelling him, if he continued to ignore the direction. Once he is expelled the State is likely to come under president’s rule.
However, the two central leaders made an offer that he would be made chairman of a committee that would coordinate between the government and the party and that would give him an opportunity to have a say in the new government formation.
Besides, a deputy chief minister’s post could be created to accommodate one of Yeddyurappa’s loyalists.
Yeddyurappa continued to exert pressure on the central leaders to have a say in the developments. As part of the calculated move, several legislators were sent to the central leaders in two buses and the legislators are believed to have expressed their support to Yeddyurappa and opposed any move to make Ananth Kumar the chief minister.
The Yeddyurappa camp claimed that 64 legislators were solidly behind the chief minister.
State Party President K S Eshwarappa, who has not met Yeddyurappa in the last two days, declared that the chief minister will be stepping down, as already announced, on Sunday.
“I am sure he will keep his words. It is legislators such as Renukacharya and V Somanna, who are negatively influencing him against stepping down.”
With Parliament session scheduled to commence on Monday, The BJP central leadership will put an end to the Karnataka fiasco by Sunday evening. If Yeddyurappa fails to resign by Sunday afternoon, the party central leaders will have no option but to sack him and appoint a new leader, sources said.
