BSY deadline close, BJP makes last bid to keep him

With former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa rigid on resigning from BJP membership on November 30, the BJP's central leadership has made a last-ditch attempt to persuade the party's "tallest leader" in Karnataka to change plans, offering to hand him over the reins to the party's next elections.

The leadership hopes the Karnataka heavyweight will postpone his plans once again.

With a section of party leaders led by L K Advani and Ananth Kumar strongly objecting to making Yeddyurappa the president of party's state unit, the interlocutors were learnt to have offered the chairmanship of the party's campaign committee for the assembly elections in the state early next year, party sources confided. Leaders said this was the best compromise offer from the central leadership, which remains divided over his demands. It will give him extra hand in selection of candidates for the elections to assert his control over the party without being party president.

"After having removed him from the CM's post, it is difficult to accommodate him as the president of the party's state unit. Campaign committee chairmanship is what he has to consider. We hope, he will postpone his plans," a senior party leader told The Indian Express.

However, a party source confided that Yeddyurappa has a "severe trust deficit" with the party leadership given the "position of strength wielded by his rival Ananth Kumar at the central unit" that virtually rules out any possibility of him reconciling to the offer. Kumar, in fact, is also the member of party's central election committee, which has the powers to overrule candidates selected by the state unit.

Yeddyurappa loyalists claimed that the former chief minister will resign not only from the party's primary membership on November 30 but also as an MLA to launch his political party on December 9 as announced. "He is not going to go back on his plans," said a loyalist.

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