BJP ensures BSY walks the talk

BANGALORE: After defying the party high command for three days, B S Yeddyurappa finally resigned as Chief Minister of Karnataka on Sunday afternoon.Though it appeared that Yeddyurappa did it on his own terms and conditions, it is the stern stand that the high command took at the last minute that forced him to give in without any of his demands being fulfilled.The high command was under compulsion to extract Yeddyurappa’s resignation on Sunday itself. For, the Parliament session will begin from Monday and the party wants to take the moral high ground on corruption by ensuring the resignation of Yeddyurappa, who has been indicted in the report on illegal mining by Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde.“It would have been extremely difficult for the party to face Parliament if it had not been successful in getting Yeddyurappa to resign,” a senior leader said.Now with Yeddyurappa having resigned, the party can heave a sigh of relief. But the fight has already begun in the state BJP for the selection of the new CM.Yeddyurappa had been demanding that MP D V Sadananda Gowda be named his successor had sought the state BJP presidentship for himself. The party high command patiently waited till Sunday afternoon, the time Yeddyurappa had fixed for his resignation. But an unrelenting Yeddyurappa missed his own deadline and continued to bargain for his successor. “Announce Sadananda Gowda as the next CM and I will resign,” Yeddyurappa is said to have told the party high command.Angered by this, the party leadership sent a strong message to Yeddyurappa to fall in line or face consequences. After consulting party national president Nitin Gadkari and other leaders in Delhi, former BJP national president Rajnath Singh is said to have done  some hard talking with Yeddyurappa, explaining why he should resign immediately.He is also said to have assured Yeddyurappa that his views will be kept in mind and his successor will be selected in a transparent and democratic way. It was only after this that Yeddyurappa mellowed down and decided to submit his resignation. This was evident by the “off the record” comment by one of the ministers walking with the Chief Minister on his way to Raj Bhavan.“Though we have the numbers, we are not sure what will happen next. The party leadership has not given any assurance,” he said, while hinting that the issue could even go to court if the factions failed to patch up.