Bangalore/ New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa has been asked by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliamentary Board to step down following his indictment in the illegal mining case by Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde. The BJP state leaders and MLAs will meet on Friday to elect a new chief minister. Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh will be in Bangalore to supervise the selection of the new chief minister.
BJP Parliamentary Board met in New Delhi on Thursday and unanimously decided that Yeddyurappa must put in his papers. Karnataka leaders also said that they would follow the decision taken by the top leadership.
"We have no differences with the party high command. What Nitin Gadkari says is final. Tomorrow Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh will come and we will select the new chief minister. Tomorrow most probably the new leader of the legislative party will be elected, there is no question of the chief minister defying the party command," said Karnataka Home Minister R Ashok.
Sources say Yeddyurappa, who returned to Bangalore from New Delhi on Thursday morning, wants a person of his choice to replace him. He is also seeking the state BJP president's post and protection from being prosecuted.
The party had made up its mind on asking Yeddyurappa to quit after Yeddyurappa met the national leadership at party president Nitin Gadkari's residence on Wednesday last night, but the Karnataka Chief Minister returned to Bangalore defiant.
However, on Thursday morning the party gave no option to Yeddyurappa after its Parliamentary Board met and formally approved the decision to replace him, and went public with it as well. Thursday's meeting was attended by senior leaders including LK Advani, MM Joshi, Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Seeing the strong stand taken by party, Yeddyurappa relented and called off the Cabinet meeting he had convened on Thursday afternoon in Bangalore.
The ultimatum from the BJP top brass has already claimed one high profile scalp. Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu, who has also been indicted by the Lokayukta, has said that he would resign.
Several senior Karnataka BJP leader are in the race to replace Yeddyurappa. The leaders in the race include Ananth Kumar, Jagdish Shettar and KS Eshwarappa.
Jagdish Shettar, who is the Rural Development Minister is a front-runner for the post. An MLA from Hubli, Shettar is a Lingayat by caste. He was the leader of Opposition in 1999 when SM Krishna was the chief minister of Karnataka.
Karnataka state BJP chief KS Eshwarappa is also a strong contender for the post. This OBC leader is considered to be close to the RSS. He is Yeddyurappa's biggest rival and is also facing corruption charges, two factor that could go against him.
Ananth Kumar, the BJP National General Secretary, and Yeddyurappa's main detractor, has also thrown his hat into the ring. However, chances look slim for this Bangalore South Lok Sabha MP.
Among the dark horses are Higher Education Minister VS Acharya. A Brahmin by caste, sources say that Yeddyurappa may concede to the BJP MLA from Udupi.
The name of Law Minister Suresh Kumar, who has close RSS ties, is also doing the rounds. Yeddyurappa may concede to this Brahmin MLA from Bangalore.
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