Yeddyurappa wants to warm chair for his man

BANGALORE: The ongoing three-day political drama in the state BJP is likely to end with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa agreeing to step down on Sunday afternoon when the inauspicious month of Aashada ends at 1 pm.However, the only hitch could be the selection of the new chief ministerial candidate, as Yeddyurappa and his rivals are still deadlocked on the issue.While Yeddyurappa is insisting on the name of MP D V Sadananda Gowda, his rival camp led by BJP national general secretary and state BJP president K S Eshwarappa is opposing it. It is said that they have proposed the name of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Jagadish Shettar who also hails from the Lingayat community, to which Yeddyurappa belongs.Meanwhile, the BJP central observers after failing to cut ice with Yeddyurappa, on Saturday started the process of eliciting individual views of MLAs to select the new Chief Minister. The party high command is expected to announce Yeddyurappa’s successor on Sunday evening based on the views expressed by the MLAs.The MLAs who identified with the CM protested the move initially and refused to meet observers. However they had to fall in line following a stern warning from the party high command.The CM, who was adamant on his demands, also softened his stand as he sensed that his defiance could earn him a rap. BJP senior leader L K Advani’s reported threat to abstain from the Parliament session starting from August 1 if Yeddyurappa did not step down, also triggered the change in his stance.MLAs supporting Yeddyurappa went in two buses to a hotel where senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh stayed. Each MLA was called by the observers and individual opinions sought.Besides giving their views, the CM faction submitted a memorandum signed by over 60 MLAs to the observers in which they opposed the candidature of Ananthkumar for the CM’s post.Coming out of the meeting, Belur Gopalakrishna who identified with the CM, said he told the leaders to accept Yeddyurappa’s views.These MLAs are said to have backed Sadananda Gowda.Earlier in the day, both the sides resorted to mudslinging with Excise Minister Renukacharya and Housing Minister V Somanna openly demanding the continuation of Yeddyurappa despite the latter’s written assurance to step down on Sunday afternoon.Renukacharya also launched scathing attack on Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, accusing him of being the “Opposition man”.Irked by this, Eshwarappa warned Renukacharya against giving such statements to the media while calling him a bachcha (fledgling) in politics. He even said Yeddyurappa was being influenced by Renukacharya and Somanna who did not know the functioning of the party. Eswharappa also objected to Renukacharya’s remarks on Hegde.Meanwhile, in an obvious effort to nix party general secretary Ananthkumar’s chances of becoming chief minister, his alleged links to the infamous Nira Radia tapes were raised. However, Kumar issued a clarification stating it was an old which the party had dismissed.