In signs that he might be relenting after a tense standoff, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Saturday said he would tender his resignation tomorrow, falling in line with the directive of the party leadership which took a tough stand.
As the fresh affirmation by the 68-year-old Yeddyurappa somewhat eased the crisis for the BJP in the first state ruled by it in the South, the party's central observers Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh were locked in hectic consultations in choosing his successor.
According to party sources, Yeddyurappa will have a say in the selection of the new chief minister but he may not get the post of the state BJP president for which he is pushing hard. He is understood to have given three choices for the leadership to consider. (Read: Who is B.S. Yeddyurappa?)
The names doing the rounds to succeed Yeddyurappa are State BJP president K S Eshwarappa, Lok Sabha MP Sadanand Gowda, Ministers Jagadish Shettar, Shoba Karandlaje, V S Acharya and Suresh Kumar S and party national general secretary and MP Ananth Kumar.
In an effort to end the speculation on whether or not he would step down from his post, Yeddyurappa released a press statement that he would quit office on July 31.
In the signed statement that was read out to the media outside the Chief Minister's residence by loyalist Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Yeddyurappa said he had already issued a statement on Thursday that he would tender his resignation on July 31 following the decision of the party's parliamentary board and instruction from BJP central leaders.
But, he said, despite the statement, "even now, some media are misleading the public that I am not resigning".
"I, hereby, again clarify that I am submitting my resignation on the afternoon of 31-3-2011", he said.
Asked if Yeddyurappa's demands were accepted by the party high command, Water Resources Minister Bommai said the Chief Minister had a closed-door meeting with Jaitley and Rajnath and he does not know what transpired between them.
"..but certainly talks are going on in right way...positive way. Every thing will be solved", Bommai said in his comments, which are seen as softening of his stand by the Chief Minister.
