New Delhi: Cracking a whip on defiant Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, the BJP Parliamentary Board on Thursday asked him to put in his papers, a day after his severe indictment by the Karnataka Lokayukta in the illegal mining scam.
After days of suspense and ‘will he, won’t he’, it’s the end of the road for Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa. Ending the uncertainty over the fate of the 68-year-old Yeddyurappa who headed the BJP’s first government in the south, the BJP Parliamentary Board on Thursday unanimously decided there should be a change in leadership in Karnataka and “advised” him to resign immediately.
“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.
The Board, the party’s highest decision making body, also decided to send senior leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley as observers to Bangalore on Friday to oversee the election of Yeddyurappa’s successor. Yeddyurappa assumed office in May 2008.
“Tomorrow, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh will go to Bangalore for the election of the new leader of the BJP legislature party,” Prasad said.
The meeting was attended among others by LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman said the Board’s decision has been conveyed to Yeddyurappa and discounted suggestions of a possible rebellion in the Karnataka unit of the party.
Earlier, a defiant Yeddyurappa returned to Bangalore on Thursday morning where he called a meeting of his Cabinet in the afternoon.
“We discussed the details of the report with BJP leaders in Karnataka and Gadkari. Will have a cabinet meeting at 3 pm today,” said Yeddyurappa after reaching Bangalore.
The meeting was later called off.
Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu, who has also been named in the Lokayutka report, said that no one was bigger than the party.
“I will resign. I am going to talk to Yeddyurappa. The High Command decision is final. We are not bigger than the High Command,” said Sriramulu.
BJP national general secretary and Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar, Rural Development and Panchayath Raj Minister Jagadish Shettar and state BJP president KS Eshwarappa are the front runners for the post of Karnataka chief minister. But the possibility of a dark horse getting a chance cannot be ruled out.