In a fresh bid to get back the power of state leadership, BJP leader and ousted Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has dashed off an ultimatum yet again to the party high command, demanding to reinstate him as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Yeddyurappa, though a top-leader in Karnataka BJP unit, has become a bone of contention for the party high-command for some time now. In August 2011, he was asked to step down following a Lokayukta report on the illegal mining scam in Bellary that indicated his possible involvement.
Since then, Yeddyurappa has been making a number of attempts to get back his position at the Karnataka helm, which many have termed as "blackmail".
Yeddyurappa, who enjoys majority of legislatures' support in 120 BJP members house, has set a fresh 48-hour deadline to decide on reinstating himself to the post of chief ministership. He took as many as 50 of his loyal supporters to a resort in Tumkur road, where they are likely to stay for two-days, awaiting party bosses' reaction on the demand.
While talking to reporters, Yeddyurappa said that 10-15 more MLAs were expected to join his camp.
This comes a day before the slated state Budget on Tuesday. DV Sadananda Gowda, the current CM and Yeddyurappa's recommended candidate, is seemingly at the receiving end.
The first BJP government in the south will go for a toss, if all the supporting MLAs of Yeddyurappa resign protesting any Central leadership's decision against their leader's demand.
The BJP leaders in the Centre asserted that Yeddyurappa would be given back the job at CM's office once he comes out clean in the alleged illegal mining scam. In a big relief for the embattled leader, Karnataka high Court annulled the FIR against him that was filed by the state Lokayukta, headed by then Chief Justice Santosh Hegde.
This move from state High Court also boosted Yeddyurappa's relentless effort to reclaim the CM's position.
The story doesn't end there. There is another trial by fire which Yeddyurappa has to go through before the BJP high command considers him as the suitable candidate for Karnataka's Chief Ministership.
The Supreme Court commissioned body on the Bellary illegal mining, the Central Empowered Committee, has not cleared its stand in letting CBI probe mining charges against Yeddyurappa. If the SC-appointed panel recommends a CBI probe into the alleged role of Yeddyurappa, then BJP is likely to land up in fresh trouble.
The Karnataka BJP government has been stumbling from one crisis to another ever since it came to power. Now the rift is wide open. How will the BJP leadership deal this internal faction? What kind of strategy will they take up to tame the unrelenting Yeddyurappa? One has to wait and watch.
