Bangalore:
BS Yeddyurappa asserted he would not quit, spent the night at the famous Tirupati temple and was seen this morning distributing ladoos to reporters waiting for a word with him. Hours later, the Karnataka Chief Minister has resigned.
Mr Yeddyurappa quit after the 11,000-page Santosh Hegde report on illegal mining in Karnataka was formally presented to the government. But he went down fighting, saying his achievements and good work were being ignored.
The Hegde report indicts the Karnataka CM for corruption and nepotism in the context of illegal mining in the state. But Mr Yeddyurappa has denied this. "I woke up in a very good mood," he said in the morning, explaining that he enjoyed his darshan at the Tirumala temple. "I prayed for so many things," he said, "I sat in front of God...Lord Balaji and all other Gods are with me. I am doing so much good work," he added.
Justice Santosh Hegde disagrees. Mr Hegde serves as the Lokayukta or ombudsman of Karnataka. In a report that runs into several thousand pages and covers years of investigations, Mr Hegde finds that the Chief Minister - as well as politicians from many other parties - have colluded to allow illegal mining and have also benefitted from it, often through kickbacks.
"I have no hope that the report will be implemented by the government. But I hope the Supreme Court takes cognizance as they are already monitoring illegal mining," Mr Hegde said speaking to reporters in Bangalore.
The Lokayukta has already confirmed that his report names Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and four state ministers, among others. The embattled Chief Minister has, however, said there's "no evidence against me".
A defiant Mr Yeddyurappa had told reporters in Bangalore yesterday, "There are many corrupt ministers in Delhi. The Prime Minister is a noble man but his circle is corrupt. So let him resign first and then let them talk about us." He had said then that he was confident of continuing as the Chief Minister for the next two years.
The Opposition has attacked Mr Yeddyurappa unsparingly and very vocally over the Hegde report, demanding that he be sacked immediately for being accused of nepotism and corruption. But what perhaps prompted the defiant CM's eventual step down was a split in his party, the BJP, on whether he should continue as CM or not. BJP vice-president Shanta Kumar openly said that Mr Yeddyurappa must step down. On Monday, BJP president Nitin Gadkari had said that the party would consider Mr Yeddyurappa's future after Mr Hegde's report was formally presented to the government.
Mr Yeddyurappa, the first BJP Chief Minister in a southern state, had survived all attacks against him in the last three years. But sources said a faction in the party asserted that their big plans of taking on the UPA government on the issue of corruption in the forthcoming session of Parliament would certainly be dented if Mr Yeddyurappa stayed as Chief Minister. On the other hand, those favouring Mr Yeddyurappa said that since the 68-year-old Chief Minister was the most prominent Lingayat leader of the BJP in Karnataka, the party should be wary of antagonising the community by removing him.
But even that support seemed to be eroding, with Lingayat mutts in Karnataka slamming Mr Yeddyurappa saying he should be "above all suspicion." Speaking to NDTV, Sri Vishweshavani, the Chief Pontiff of Pejawar Mutt, said, "I am very upset that these allegations have come up against the CM. He should have been like Caesar's wife. Above all suspicion. At least we believed so."