Karnataka’s embattled former chief minister, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa, stepped back from his decision to quit the party on Monday, ending a two-day crisis that had pushed the government of arch rival D.V. Sadananda Gowda to the brink.
Mr Yeddyurappa, who had almost made up his mind to announce his resignation from the party in the evening, put off the decision when he realised that the majority of legislators who had supported him to the hilt only eight months ago were unwilling to follow him and snap ties with the BJP.
As a quid pro quo, central leaders, including party president Nitin Gadkari and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, assured the former chief minister that his supporters in the Cabinet, facing charges of anti-party activities from CM Sadananda Gowda, would not be axed. Mr Jaitley even offered to visit him next weekend and try to address his grievances.
The BJP reminded Mr Yeddyurappa about his limitations in the wake of the recent Supreme Court order directing a CBI probe against him in an illegal mining case. However, not in a position to further upset him, the central leadership acknowledged Mr Yeddyurappa as the “tallest leader” in the state and asked him to “be patient”.
The former CM, however, trained his guns on his bete noire, party general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar, Mr Sadananda Gowda and state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa.
In an attack that raised the spectre of expulsion from the party, Mr Yeddy-urappa said, “Mr Ananth Kumar’s sole agenda is to become the CM. Mr Ananth Kumar has poisoned the mind of our revered leader, L.K. Advani, and created confusion in the state. He tried to dislodge me from the post of CM on three occasions. Now he is indulging in character assassination.” He added: “Mr Sadananda Gowda and Mr Eshwarappa are responsible for the confusion in the BJP state unit. Mr Sadananda Gowda has colluded with the JD(S) and spoilt the growth of the BJP in our state. He did not pay heed when 40 legislators signed a letter demanding a meeting of the legislature party.”