New Delhi/Bangalore:
It is raining in Bangalore, much like it rained when BJP Karnataka strongman BS Yeddyurappa walked to the Raj Bhawan to resign as Chief Minister last year. Today, he is expected to announce what his next political step will be, and all eyes are on his Race Course Road house where a press conference is likely to be held.
The former CM, who faces a CBI inquiry ordered by the Supreme Court, now apparently wants his party leadership to replace his successor Sadananda Gowda with a Lingayat leader. Ironically , Mr Gowda was Mr Yeddyurappa's own choice for the post.
Mr Yeddyurappa reportedly holds the threat of resignation on his party's head. Many resignations - his own from the BJP and those of his loyalists, said to be a sizeable chunk of the ruling party's 121 MLAs in the Karnataka Assembly. His camp also claims that nine ministers in the Gowda government have handed letters of resignation to the former Chief Minister. Mr Yeddyurappa remains powerful despite his fall from grace after being indicted by the state Lokayukta in illegal mining cases last year.
Early today, the BJP leader visited the Siddaganga mutt in Tumkur and met his loyalists. He has reportedly shot off two letters to Chief Minister Gowda with signatures of 38 MLAs seeking an emergency legislature party meeting. Mr Gowda has reportedly rejected that demand; in the face of Mr Yeddyurappa's reported ultimatum, the Chief Minister's supporters too have now rallied around him and have reportedly said if he is removed, they will quit.
Mr Yeddyurappa, who stepped down very unwillingly after being charged with corruption, has spent much of this year trying to flex political muscle to arm-twist his party leadership into reinstating him. Last week, the Supreme Court dealt those comeback plans a blow when it ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Mr Yeddyurappa for nepotism, illegal land acquisition and favoring top mining companies.
Since then, Mr Yeddyurappa's demand is that a Lingayat leader be made Chief Minister instead of the man he picked as his successor. The Lingayats are a powerful community in Karnataka; Mr Yeddyurappa is a Lingayat.
The BJP has refused to be brow-beaten so far and has made clear that the mild-mannered and affable Mr Gowda will remain the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Top party leaders including party president Nitin Gadkari met Mr Gowda in New Delhi last night to discuss the renewed dissidence in the state.
In Bangalore, Mr Yeddyurappa caused some more embarrassment to the party by praising Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "I have to praise Sonia Gandhi. I noticed that Congress party and its people are united and supportive if any one of their party members gets into trouble. They help each other and resolve the problems," he told a gathering.
The BJP distanced itself from Mr Yeddyurappa's statement with Mr Gowda saying he could not answer for his one-time mentor why he had praised Congress leaders.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said, "Mr Yeddurappa's statement is significant because it reflects the ground situation in Karnataka. It reflects that the people of Karnataka are fed up with the misrule of the BJP (and) their attempt to try and convert a secular state into a bureaucracy. With the elections in six months from now, the mood of the people of Karnataka is getting reflected unwittingly through the statements of none other than Mr Yeddyurappa."