By Chinmayee Dash: BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa, who had brought the party to power in the South Indian state Karnataka, now appears as the rebel after he was not reinstated as the Chief Minister of state.
Since the political crisis in the BJP is deepening in Karnataka over Yeddyurappa’s demands and his involvement in mining scam, he recently threatened to quit the party. However, he changed his view later, but made it clear that he was not responsible for the crisis showing his strength.
The leader has not dropped his demands, but he will protest the central leadership decision being in the party. Yeddyurappa’s desire for the CM post was increased after Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda took the charge from him following he was indicted in the Lokayukta report on mining scam.
He slammed Sadananda Gowda saying, the CM has proved to be a failure and he should have resigned long before. He questioned on eligibility of Gowda and said he is not fit for the post.
Not only he slammed Gowda, but also he targeted BJP General Secretary HN Ananth Kumar. He alleged that Ananth Kumar wanted to be the CM of the state. He accused him of “feeding malicious information” about him to senior BJP leader LK Advani.
He also talked tough on the state unit chief K S Eshwarappa and RSS leader Satish during his visit to Siddganga mut pontiff Shivakumara Swamiji of the Lingayat community. He alleged them of not maintaining coordination with the party MLAs.
The political crisis deepened when more than half a dozen MLAs and ministers loyal to him tendered their resignations in May. The central leadership also looks dumb before the demands of Yeddyurappa as he has the support of support of around 50 MLAs and at least 9 ministers. If he resigns from the party, the development could threaten the survival of the BJP government in Karnataka.
The BJP strongman, who is aspiring to be reinstated as the CM of Karnataka, faced a huge blow after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into illegal mining scam, which occurred during his tenure as the CM.
Recently, he took on the central leadership suggesting them the party needs to do introspection. He decided to boycott the BJP National Executive meeting. He even alleged that leaders like Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj are being suppressed and LK Advani is being sidelined. However, he changed his mind later and decided to attend the National Executive.