BJP may ask Yeddyurappa to quit,working on compromise formula

Yeddyurappa,however,has made it clear that he will not quit his post and instead dissolve the state Assembly.

Sources said the BJP leadership is ready to accept a candidate of Yeddyurappa’s choice to take over from him,as it does not want the state Assembly to be dissolved.

Earlier,reports suggested the BJP was all set to sack Yeddurappa,after Karnataka Lokayukta Justice (retired) Santosh Hegde submits his report on Wednesday,the Times Now channel reports.

BJP president Nitin Gadkari has told newspersons in New Delhi that his party will take a call on Yeddyurappa’s fate once the Lokayukta formally presents his report to the state government on Wednesday.

State BJP chief K S Eshwarappa,national General Secretary Ananth Kumar and state Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Jagdish Shettar have emerged as front-runners in the chief ministerial race.

On Monday,Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra refuted charges levelled against his father in the illegal mining scam,and alleged that former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H D Deve Gowda was trying to topple the government in the state and prop his party into power.

“It is a conspiracy by Deve Gowda to bring down the Yeddyurappag overnment. To further this conspiracy all kinds of absurd charges are being made so that he can form the government,” said Raghavendra.

Yeddyurappa,who returned from Mauritius,where he was on holiday with his family,denied the corruption charges against him and paid a visit to a temple in Bangalore to seek divine blessings.

The priests recited hymns and offered lamps to deities on his behalf.

Meanwhile,Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) President H D Kumaraswamy criticized senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not taking action against Yeddyurappa despite mounting evidence.

“After the Lokayukta submits his original report,we will come in front of you (media) and discuss more issues. There is no bone in the back of the BJP high command. We don’t think the BJP high command is going to take a decision even after Lokayukta has submitted the original report. He (Yeddyurappa) will not step down,we know that,” said Kumaraswamy.

Yeddyurappa,who has been implicated in the illegal mining scam,has said he would continue to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka for the next two years.

“I am going to continue for another two years as Chief Minister,afterward,we shall face elections. In another 15 to 20 years,we want to build up our organisation and we are going to come back to power even after these elections,” he said.

Yeddyurappa said Justice Hegde is yet to officially hand over the report to the government,and added he would comment on the report only after he received it.

Expressing disappointment over the allegations of phone-tapping,he said he would request Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up an inquiry committee to look into the matter.

“The entire Bharatiya Janata Party is one,we are together and all our all leadership is also with us,” he had said.