After making six futile attempts to topple his successor, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has been successful the seventh time. There was no one more happy than the veteran BJP leader at his residence at Dhavalagiri, his Dollars Colony residence as he went about the task of distributing food among his party MLAs and workers who had arrived to celebrate the elevation of his nominee, Jagadish Shettar as CM. He no doubt looked relieved despite the fact that he has a CBI probe into illegal mining hanging over his head.
At the luncheon meeting, BSY played the perfect host greeting each legislator personally, which was something unusual. “Whenever Sir (Mr Yeddyurappa) is happy, he greets us and that shows he is in a jovial mood. He even cracked jokes,” a MLA told Deccan Chronicle. Soon after the legislators landed at his residence, Mr Yeddyurappa himself served them food. "I though he was coming to me to enquire if the food was tasty enough. To my surprise, he started serving the delicacies and forced us to eat more," another legislator disclosed. The jokes ranged from one on the attire of a city MLA to another on how a fellow legislator got his back injured “What were you doing?” he asked in a lighter vein.
The veteran leader made no secret of his displeasure over some central leaders delaying the announcement of Mr Shettar's name for the CM's post. "They should have announced that Mr Shettar will replace Mr Gowda a long time ago. I tried to convince them several times but they did not listen to my suggestion. This time I succeeded," Mr Yeddyurappa said. He advised his loyalists not to flood him with requests for cabinet berths saying he knew who should be given which post. "I get irritated when you come asking for a berth. Did any of you ever think I would propose Mr Shettar's name? But, ultimately, I did when I felt it was the right time," he said.
Mr Yeddyurappa instructed his supporters to make sure they attend the BJP Legislature party meeting on Tuesday when Mr Shettar will be formally elected CM designate.