BJP asks Yeddyurappa to resign immediately
NEW DELHI: The
BJP parliamentary board on Thursday asked tainted Karnataka chief minister
BS Yeddyurappa to tender his resignation immediately, following the indictment by the
Lokayukta over
illegal mining in the state.
Briefing mediapersons, BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said that the party has decided that it was time for a change in the Karnataka BJP leadership. He also said that Arun Jaitley and
Rajnath Singh will go to
Bangalore on Friday to choose an alternative leader.
The meeting was attended among others by
LK Advani,
Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and
Venkaiah Naidu.
Even as BJP bosses have officially asked Yeddyurappa to step down, the Karnataka chief minister is defiant and is threatening to play spoil sport for the party.
Soon after his abrupt return from
New Delhi, Yeddyurappa convened a meeting of MLAs at his residence and also announced he would go ahead with scheduled plans of his cabinet meeting.
State BJP unit KS Eshwarappa, who is also in Delhi issued stern warning to MLAs not to attend the meeting called by Yedddyurappa.
Though there are 25 MLAs and 6 ministers attending Yeddyurappa's meeting, party sources said it was just a courtesy call and many would side with the party once an alternative leader was announced.
Senior leaders Ananth Kumar, KS Eshwarappa and Jagadish Shettar are the frontrunners for the post of chief minister.
Former state BJP president D V Sadananda Gowda is seen as a dark horse.