BS Yediyurappa
BS Yediyurappa
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Bengaluru: Warring factional heads of the ruling BJP in Karnataka were reported to be doing the rounds, soliciting support from the Lingayat caste seers across the states for settling the contentious issue of the successor to BS Yediyurappa who earlier today resigned from being Karnataka chief minister. Yediyurappa who was under a cloud over alleged irregularities was reported to have lost favour with the Party’s central leadership in Delhi. It was reported that earlier this month Union Home Minister Amit Shah at first refused to grant him an audience and apparently asked him to come back for a meeting soon after Yediyurappa boarded the return flight from Delhi.
Yediyurappa though, after his resignation, took to twitter to say: “It has been an honour to have served the state for the past two years. I have decided to resign as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. I am humbled and sincerely thank the people of the state for giving me the opportunity to serve them. I am grateful to PM @narendramodi Ji, @JPNaddavJi & @AmitShah Ji for their support.”
After his exit as CM, though he has been asked to remain there as a caretaker CM, the current warring camps comprise Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra and his staunch opponent within the Party, CP Yogeshwar. At the time of going to press there was no clear indication of who is tipped to replace Yediyurappa at the hot seat. The outgoing chief minister who submitted his resignation to the Karnataka Governor, later told pressmen that he had decided to step down from the post on his own accord and no one had forced him to resign. He also averred that he will continue to work for the BJP in the future and endeavor to strengthen the state wing of the Party.
The genesis of the change in guard story has its roots in early April this year when Karnataka Rural development minister K S Eshwarappa sought an audience with the Governor over his discontentment about alleged interference of the chief minister’s office in handling his portfolio. At that point of time, and even further down the line the Karnataka BJP leaders behaved like ostriches burying their head in sand and persisted that their visits to the Governor and senior BJP dignitaries at the Centre was merely to focus on how best to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic crisis and no one intended a change of guard. Yediyurappa on his part played it safe by the ear, stating, “I will resign if our Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants me to.”
The local Lingayat seers had in the meanwhile warned the ruling BJP of dire consequences if Yediurappa is forced to step down as Karnataka Chief Minister. Even as the denials continued to get issued, in the first week of May, Karnataka Home Minister Basavraj Bommai along with Vijayendra air dashed to Delhi and was given an audience by Party’s central leadership, Amit Shah. Yet again, the BJP state leaders quashed all rumours about firefighting against any attempted shift in guard, stating, “The visit was related to handling the Covid crisis. Yediyurappa had by then come under the Party leadership’s scanner owing to a cabinet decision that endorsed the sale of 3,667 acres of land in Bellary to the Indian steel major, namely JSW Steel.
As moves and counter moves kept happening deepening the row over the state leadership, it was on June 6, later, when Yediyuruppa gave a hint that he will act as per the wishes of the Party Central Leadership. Yediyuruppa had also requested his party dignitaries to refrain from holding protest rallies or any form of reactionary actions in wake of his resignation.
