Bangalore: A rebellion of sorts broke out in BJP in Karnataka on Friday with Yeddyurappa loyalists pressing the high command to allow him to continue as Chief Minister, claiming he has the support of over half the party MLAs and MPs.
In what appears to be a show of strength by 68-year-old B S Yeddyurappa that could delay electing his successor, his camp legislators told the party’s central observers Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley that it should reconsider the decision asking him to resign. The observers were told that the opinion of individual MLAs must be ascertained.
As Yeddyurappa continued to be a rallying point for his loyalists upset over his exit, the BJP Legislature party meeting scheduled for today has been put off amid reports that Yeddyurappa is pressing hard that the next chief minister should be his nominee.
“75 MLAs, 15 Lok Sabha MPs, three Rajya Sabha MPs, 20 MLCs want Yeddyurappa as leader,” claimed Rajya Sabha MP Prabhakar Kore, adding they want the high command to allow BJP’s first chief minister in the South to continue in his post. BJP has 121 MLAs in a House of 224.
Some of the legislators also openly demanded that Yeddyurappa be made the president of the state unit of BJP and that he should choose his successor.
Rajnath and Jaitley also met Yeddyurappa at his residence in a bid to convince him on the need for a smooth change in guard with the Monsoon session of Parliament just couple of days away when issues relating to corruption are expected to be high on the agenda.
Singh asserted efforts were underway to elect a new leader by “consensus”.
“A majority of MLAs, MLCs and Lok Sabha members are with Yeddyurappa. Yeddyurappa is our leader”, loyalist Minister M P Renukacharya said. “We appeal to the central leaders to continue with Yeddyurappa (as Chief Minister)”.
Before the developments unfolded here, Yeddyurappa, who reluctantly agreed to resign yesterday following the high command’s decision in the wake of his severe indictment by the Lokayukta in the illegal mining scam, said he will be officially submitting his resignation to Governor H R Bharadwaj on July 31.
The party’s Parliamentary Board had asked the Chief Minister to demit the office in the wake of his indictment in the report on illegal mining and export of iron ore by the Lokayukta.
The day witnessed a series of meetings and parallel meetings by Yeddyurappa, while the central leaders held confabulations with the party legislators and MPs prior to the LPM. (Agencies)
