Bangalore:
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit in Karnataka might be edging closer to a split with sources saying former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has threatened to resign from the state assembly on Monday. Mr Yeddyurappa, sources say, is angry over the lack of support shown to him by the BJP after the Supreme Court, on Friday, ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe him for nepotism, illegal land acquisition and favouring top mining companies.
Mr Yeddyurappa and his supporters, according to sources, are also upset over Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda and state party president KS Eeshwarappa not being supportive of him. The former chief minister is also feeling sad that Mr Gowda 'betrayed' his trust, sources add.
Sources have also told NDTV that the Yeddyurappa camp is using the resignation threats for a change in guard in the state. The former chief minister wants Mr Gowda to be removed and a Lingayat leader, like him, to be appointed as the chief minister instead, sources said.
Earlier today, seven ministers loyal to Mr Yeddyurappa offered to quit from the Karnataka cabinet. The ministers - Shobha Kharandlaje, V Sommana, MP Renukacharya, Umesh Katthi, Basavaraj Bommai, Murugesh Nirani and CM Udasi - submitted their resignations to Mr Yeddurappa. Sources say at least 10 more MLAs may submit their resignation tomorrow. Mr Yeddurappa will decide on Monday whether to "accept" the resignations. In actuality, that would be a decision taken by the party, but it does make things tougher for Sadananda Gowda, the man who Mr Yeddyurappa is desperate to replace.
The show of strength and support suggests Mr Yeddyurappa does not intend to abandon attempts to be reinstated as chief minister, so far firmly rejected by the BJP's central leadership.
Sources say the BJP has asked Mr Yeddyurappa not to precipitate the crisis and are working channels to calm tempers in Yeddyurappa camp, but he might ignore the BJP leadership's advice.
"I don't know... He has not submitted any resignation. I cannot comment on such news so far," Mr Gowda told reporters this evening.
The Supreme Court had yesterday asked the CBI to file its report against Mr Yeddyurappa by August 3, asking it to probe the allegations that the Prerna Trust managed by members of Mr Yeddyurappa's immediate family received a huge donation from the mining company favoured by him.
Mr Yeddyurappa, while welcoming the Supreme Court order, had said, "Political conspiracy hatched against me has made me an accused in illegal mining though it is I who stopped it. I am facing the trouble after doing good work. I know how to come out of this political labyrinth."
The BJP unit in the state has been in turmoil for some time now with the party split right through the middle. Mr Yeddyurappa reluctantly relinquished the post in July last year after he was strongly indicted in an illegal mining report by the Karnataka Lokayukta. The Lingayat leader then handpicked Mr Gowda as his successor, envisaging him as a stop-gap arrangement till he made a bid for return as the chief minister after being cleared of the charges of corruption. But Mr Gowda will not go without a fight, and so far, the BJP has kept him in office.
Armed with the support of 70 of the 100 MLAs in the state, Mr Yeddyurappa made a trip to New Delhi in March this year, hoping that would prove he should be back in power. But the party high command didn't oblige with reports of senior leaders like LK Advani wary of bringing back Mr Yeddyurappa to office as it would deflate their campaign against the Congress of tolerating corruption within its ranks.