BJP helpless as Yeddyurappa continues to defy ‘quit’ call

Asked to step down by BJP,Karnataka CM Yeddyurappa showed signs of going into a revolt mode.

Asked to step down by his party,Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday showed signs of going into a revolt mode,rebuffing the call to resign given by the BJP central leadership which continued to coax him to make an honourable exit. He made it known to the top brass that he enjoyed the support of a majority of the MLAs and MPs.

The Chief Minister,who has been trying to convince the leadership that a conspiracy to destabilise his government was on from within the party,held closed-door strategy sessions with Karnataka MPs loyal to him around 17 according to sources close to him after his arrival here to meet the party leadership. He also deployed three of his ministers and some of the MPs to convince the leadership that his exit would jeopardise the government.

By sending a veiled threat that his exit would also draw the curtains on the BJPs first government in South India,Yeddyurappa hopes to prolong his continuation in office,though sources said the leadership was not likely to heed to his plea.

The Chief Ministers emissaries V S Acharya,V Somanna and C M Udasi met central leaders,including party chief Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley,to plead his case. The argument being given was that there was an in-house conspiracy to unseat him and fingers are being pointed at a senior national-level leader from the state. Sources close to the Chief Minister said the RSS was also backing him fully.

Minutes after landing in Delhi,Yeddyurappa drove to party MP Prabhakar Kores residence where some of the MPs and state ministers met him. Later arriving at the Karnataka Bhavan,he said nobody has asked me to resign and held an hour-long meeting with some 17 MPs supporting him in a clear show of strength. Some of the MPs also met the leadership during the day. Later,he met Jaitley at Kores residence.

Although the central leadership was taken aback by the defiance shown by the Chief Minister,sources said it did not want to indulge in a showdown with him and would make efforts to ensure that the leadership change happened smoothly. Top leaders said such posturing was not new indicating that the party had dealt with similar defiance by chief ministers in the past and asserted that the issue would be sorted out soon.

The Chief Minister,facing corruption and nepotism charges,arrived here from Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has been playing hide-and-seek with the central leadership ignoring its summons. In Puttaparthi,he attended the birthday celebrations of Sai Baba. Sources in the central BJP pointed out that none of the central leaders was batting for him as of now.

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Meanwhile,caste equations have come into play in Karnataka with religious leaders of the dominant Lingayat community coming out in support of the beleaguered Chief Minister,who is a Lingayat himself and has showered favours on the communitys religious centres in the past 30 months.

The Lingayat community,with a 17 per cent population and spread around the north of the state,formed the backbone of Yeddyurappas ascent to the CMs post in May 2008. The Lingayats,who have a bitter rivalry with the Vokkaligas from the south,the other dominant group in the state,had thrown their weight behind Yeddyurappa after he was denied the Chief Ministers chair in November 2007 by the Janata Dal (Secular) seen primarily as a Vokkaliga unit.

The opposition Congress,however,is ready with its own strategy having announced to hold a rally this week featuring Lingayat leaders to protest against the taint brought upon the community by the actions of Yeddyurappa and his sons in misusing the CMs post for personal gain.

(With ENS,Bangalore)