Bangalore:
BS Yeddyurappa has offered his party some breathing space by declaring that he is not quitting the BJP just yet. However, he made it clear at a crowded press conference today that he has the support of 70 of the party's 121 MLAs, and that they remain loyal to him. Mr Yeddyurappa also reasserted his demand that current chief minister, Sadananda Gowda, be replaced. Nine months ago, when he was forced to resign as chief minister, it was Mr Yeddyurappa who hand-picked Mr Gowda as his successor. He now wants the head of the government to be picked from his Lingayat community.
Mr Yeddyurappa has blamed the current crisis in the Karnataka branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Mr Gowda and political opponents KS Eshwarappa, who is the party chief in the state, and senior leader Ananth Kumar. He also said that he has been betrayed because the BJP has failed to deliver on its promise to reinstate him as chief minister. He was made to resign after he was indicted for corruption in a report on illegal mining submitted last year by the state's Lokayukta or ombudsman. Mr Yeddyurappa says Mr Gowda has failed to be a "responsible CM" and has been unable to reach out to his MLAs.
He said he is not quitting now because his supporters don't want him to, but claimed that 40 MLAs have already handed him their letters of resignation from the state Assembly and that he expects another 10 to do so today. Mr Yeddyurappa said he would now tour Karnataka and ask the people what his next political step should be. The threat of resignation, from both party and the assembly, still hangs and the BJP's Karnataka crisis is far from over.
The BJP has refused to replace the mild-mannered and affable Mr Gowda as Chief Minister of Karnataka, but party leaders know Mr Yeddyurappa does hold the potential to split the BJP and cost his party its first government in the South. Top leaders including party president Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley have been in a huddle to discuss the renewed dissidence in the state. They met Mr Gowda last night in Delhi and right now, eight MPs said to be loyal to Mr Yeddyurappa are meeting Mr Jaitley. But Mr Kumar, who is also the party in-charge of Karnataka, dismissed reports of a change of guard being discussed in the meeting in the national capital. "No question of change in leadership... change in leadership not being discussed...we are working on the complaints," he said.
The former CM is reportedly feeling slighted by the lack of support shown to him by his party's central leadership after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI inquiry against him last week for nepotism, illegal land acquisition and favouring top mining companies.
Over the weekend, Mr Yeddyurappa caused some more embarrassment to the party by praising Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "I have to praise Sonia Gandhi. I noticed that Congress party and its people are united and supportive if any one of their party members gets into trouble. They help each other and resolve the problems," he told a gathering.
The BJP distanced itself from Mr Yeddyurappa's statement with Mr Gowda saying he could not answer for his one-time mentor why he had praised Congress leaders.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said, "Mr Yeddurappa's statement is significant because it reflects the ground situation in Karnataka. It reflects that the people of Karnataka are fed up with the misrule of the BJP (and) their attempt to try and convert a secular state into a bureaucracy. With the elections in six months from now, the mood of the people of Karnataka is getting reflected unwittingly through the statements of none other than Mr Yeddyurappa."
Mr Yeddyurappa has blamed the current crisis in the Karnataka branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Mr Gowda and political opponents KS Eshwarappa, who is the party chief in the state, and senior leader Ananth Kumar. He also said that he has been betrayed because the BJP has failed to deliver on its promise to reinstate him as chief minister. He was made to resign after he was indicted for corruption in a report on illegal mining submitted last year by the state's Lokayukta or ombudsman. Mr Yeddyurappa says Mr Gowda has failed to be a "responsible CM" and has been unable to reach out to his MLAs.
He said he is not quitting now because his supporters don't want him to, but claimed that 40 MLAs have already handed him their letters of resignation from the state Assembly and that he expects another 10 to do so today. Mr Yeddyurappa said he would now tour Karnataka and ask the people what his next political step should be. The threat of resignation, from both party and the assembly, still hangs and the BJP's Karnataka crisis is far from over.
The BJP has refused to replace the mild-mannered and affable Mr Gowda as Chief Minister of Karnataka, but party leaders know Mr Yeddyurappa does hold the potential to split the BJP and cost his party its first government in the South. Top leaders including party president Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley have been in a huddle to discuss the renewed dissidence in the state. They met Mr Gowda last night in Delhi and right now, eight MPs said to be loyal to Mr Yeddyurappa are meeting Mr Jaitley. But Mr Kumar, who is also the party in-charge of Karnataka, dismissed reports of a change of guard being discussed in the meeting in the national capital. "No question of change in leadership... change in leadership not being discussed...we are working on the complaints," he said.
The former CM is reportedly feeling slighted by the lack of support shown to him by his party's central leadership after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI inquiry against him last week for nepotism, illegal land acquisition and favouring top mining companies.
Over the weekend, Mr Yeddyurappa caused some more embarrassment to the party by praising Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "I have to praise Sonia Gandhi. I noticed that Congress party and its people are united and supportive if any one of their party members gets into trouble. They help each other and resolve the problems," he told a gathering.
The BJP distanced itself from Mr Yeddyurappa's statement with Mr Gowda saying he could not answer for his one-time mentor why he had praised Congress leaders.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said, "Mr Yeddurappa's statement is significant because it reflects the ground situation in Karnataka. It reflects that the people of Karnataka are fed up with the misrule of the BJP (and) their attempt to try and convert a secular state into a bureaucracy. With the elections in six months from now, the mood of the people of Karnataka is getting reflected unwittingly through the statements of none other than Mr Yeddyurappa."
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