Bangalore:
Sources tell NDTV that Yeddyurappa's defiance is being seen as posing a huge threat to the political authority of the BJP leadership.
The party wants Yeddyurappa to go, to strengthen its anti-corruption campaign against the UPA but the Chief Minister and his loyalists are mounting pressure on the party leaders saying they got the people's mandate in Karnataka and that the Lingayats, Yeddyurappa's community, will protest and dump the BJP in Karnataka if he's asked to go.
- The Karnataka government with a slim majority will then become unstable and even fall.
- The BJP's worries, what will be the impact ahead of the panchayat elections if the Chief Minister is changed and the government falls?
- Will a succession war begin and further hurt the party's image?