Drama over BSY's resignation refuses to die down

BJP state president K S Eshwarappa told the media on Friday night that he is hopeful of a decision by Saturday and also added that the party high command would take the opinion of the MLAs before making a final call.

Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh along with other senior leaders continued to meet with various factions in the BJP in Karnataka to find a solution to the ongoing crisis.

Yeddyurappa has made it clear to them he will not be stepping down immediately unless some of his demands have been met.

Sources say that he has changed a couple of his demands and says that a candidate of his choice should at least be made the deputy chief minister while he should be given the post of party president in the state.

However, there is opposition in some circles in appointing a deputy chief minister. But Eshwarappa, who is also a hopeful for the post of next CM, said that he is unaware of any such demand.

"There may be demands, but the high command has not conveyed anything to me about this," he said.

"All MLAs will give their opinions about this issue to the party seniors on Saturday and I can say with confidence that there is no split in the party as is being made out to be. Every family has its own problems and we are having some too today. However, I am confident that we will tide over this crisis with ease," he also said.

"Yeddyurappa is a good leader and he has a lot of regard for the party. I am sure he will not go against the decision of the high command," he added.

This statement is completely contrary to what the Yeddyurappa camp have been saying. They continue to rally behind Yeddyurappa and say that 'the high command must reconsider its decision since the Lokayukta report on illegal mining (which indicts him among others) is 'biased' and does not make out a strong case against the Janata Dal-Secular and the Congress who are also involved in illegal mining.'

Eshwarappa was however not critical of the Lokayukta report. He said on several occasions the opposition has demanded the resignation of Yeddyurappa, but the party never insisted that he should quit.

"We had however said that any leader would have to step down in case of an indictment by a court or the Lokayukta in any inquiry, and this time the party high command has sought his (Yeddyurappa's) resignation," he said.

He was, however, quick to add that 'despite the Lokayukta naming former CM Dharam Singh in his first report, the Congress colluded with the Governor and got his name cleared when the matter was referred to the latter.'

The BJP has not done anything to that effect, he added.

Meanwhile, the BJP leaders from Delhi have their task cut out and they continue to meet with various leaders seeking their opinion.

The discussions revolve largely around the resignation of Yeddyurappa and they are treading cautiously, since it appears that the influential Lingayat leader would try and split the party by showing his strength with the number of MLAs he has got.

There is also a growing demand by the anti-Yeddyurappa faction which has been saying that the 'CM should step down or else the high command should initiate disciplinary action against him.'

Each of the factions have been claiming the support of 70 MLAs each, despite the strength of the BJP being just 121 in the Karnataka legislative assembly.

Once the BJP high command manages to resolve the Yeddyurappa issue, they will then need to look into the charges leveled by the Lokayukta against the Reddy brothers and their aide B Sriramulu.

However, there is not a word on that in the BJP circles since the entire focus is on the chief minister. B Sriramulu even issued a statement in which he said that there is no instruction from the high command for him to step down, but also added that he is ready to do so if the party demands.

There are at least four different meetings that are taking place in Bengaluru. While senior leader Ananth Kumar and his men are in a separate meeting, the Yeddyurappa has just returned to his official residence after meeting with the party leaders.

On the other hand Singh and Jaitley held a meeting with Shobha Karandlage to take her views on the crisis.

The same leaders also met with Eshwarappa with the same purpose. Party sources say that there should be some decision by Saturday following which the legislature party meeting would be held.