Yeddyurappa to stay as Chief Minister, says BJP

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, November 24:  After hanging in the balance for days, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa’s political lifeline has been extended. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar announced the party’s final decision on Wednesday that Yeddyurappa will stay as Chief Minister as of now.

 

There was immense Opposition pressure on the Chief Minister to step down for alleged corruption in land allotment.

The decision came after several rounds of discussions between the BJP top brass, the latest being a meeting between Gadkari and Yeddyurappa on Tuesday evening. The meeting seems to have worked out a compromise where Yeddyurappa remains as CM.

Why BJP conceded to Yeddyurappa:

    * The Chief Minister’s defiance and compulsions in Karnataka forced BJP to rethink move against him
    * The BJP is working on a face saving formula to tackle the crisis
    * BJP high command wary of destabilising the Karnataka government


Most of the BJP MPs from Karnataka had told the party that Yeddyurappa should not be fired on the basis of allegations by the Opposition.

At the BJP’s parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, MPs suggested that this is not the right time for the chief minister’s exit - panchayat elections are around the corner, and Yeddyurappa’s dismissal could signal to a party besieged by infighting that dissent can win the day.

The chief minister is accused of misusing his office to grant prime property in and around Bangalore to his family members and companies linked to them. The Opposition in Karnataka, headed by HD Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), has been releasing a barrage of documents that show how Yeddyurappa denotified or "unlocked" government land that was reserved for public projects to benefit his family.

Yeddyurappa announced last week that his family would return the land. He has also asked a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court to look into all allotments of government land made in the last few years.