New Delhi, November 18: As Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa faces charges of nepotism over the handling of government land, a signature campaign has begun within the BJP in Karnataka for a leadership change in the state.
As many as 61 party MLAs have signed for a new Chief Minister, BJP sources said. The renewed demand for change in leadership comes even as the Opposition has asked Yeddyurappa to step down — like Ashok Chavan in Maharashtra — for allegedly denotifying government land around Bangalore in favour of his family.
Different groups within the state BJP — one led by the Reddy brothers of Bellary and another by state president K S Eshwarappa, who are inimical to Yeddyurappa — have also sighted an opportunity to execute a change in leadership.
According to BJP sources, a strong initiative has begun to push the high command to effect a change since the party is losing face even within the dominant Lingayat community — to which Yeddyurappa belongs and which forms a strong base for the party.
The name of Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar — a Lingayat with the backing of senior party leader Ananth Kumar as well as the Reddy brothers — is being slowly pushed as a possible alternative to Yeddyurappa. A section of the BJP high command is also keen on a change but another section is backing Yeddyurappa, the sources said. A team from the BJP high command is expected to visit Bangalore to assess the situation over the weekend.
Yeddyurappa on his part has said that no force can stop him from completing his full term and that he enjoyed the full support of party president Nithin Gadkari and the RSS.
At a press conference to refute allegations of nepotism against him earlier this week, Yeddyurappa had challenged the Opposition to use the charges against him to defeat him in the local polls. This has been seen as a sign of him buying time to remain in power.
The zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat elections are tentatively scheduled for the end of the year. But more than the Opposition charges, it is internal bickering within the BJP that is a cause for worry for Yeddyurappa who was earlier told by party president Nitin Gadkari to control dissidence or go.
Yeddyurappa has already seen rebellion twice in two years — including a recent withdrawal of support by 11 MLAs.
Meanwhile, the Opposition JDS is all set to raise the issue in Parliament.
“We would like to ask BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj if they are adopting different yardsticks while judging Ashok Chavan or A Raja and while judging the Karnataka Chief Minister,” JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy said here on Wednesday.
——–Agencies