Under burden of a damaging 10,000 pages report against Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) went into a huddle on Wednesday to decide his fate and plan future course of action in the matter.
The party, which had scheduled a meeting at senior leader LK Advani's residence to plan out its floor management and set agenda for the forthcoming Parliament session instead discussed Yeddyurappa's fate for a larger part of time.
A section of the BJP leadership strongly believed Yeddyurappa should be removed to strengthen party's position in the Parliament where BJP plans to shout hoarse on corruption.
Some other BJP leaders expressed a lot of bargaining needed to be done and the party should wait and watch. On Wednesday evening, a defiant Yeddyurappa took a chartered flight to Delhi to meet the BJP leadership to explain his position and discuss his political future.
It was an hour of reckoning for Yeddyurappa and BJP yielding to caste pressure from Karnataka to let him continue. On Lokayukta report even though BJP tried to put in a brave face saying it cannot be compelled to take action against Yeddyurappa on technical grounds, party sources said it was important for the party to come clean and show zero tolerance on the issue of corruption.
More so since the UP elections are round the corner where the party is ranting over corruption under chief minister Mayawati's regime, and the Parliament session about to begin, Yeddyurappa’s presence in CM’s office can weaken BJP’s attack.
The Congress alleged the entire BJP leadership of indulging in corruption when Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said BJP leadership may be the beneficiaries of illegal mining.
“There are media reports that BJP leader Sushma Swaraj made Reddy brothers mining ministers. While she has officially said that they became ministers when Arun Jaitley was in-charge. This shows that the whole national leadership of the BJP is hands-in-glove in the illegal mining,” Ahmad said.
Congress is claiming that while it has been prompt in sacking Ashok Chavan, Shashi Tharoor, Suresh Kalmadi even before charges could be proved against them, BJP is dragging its feet on Yeddyurappa.
Despite having survived several challenges from within the party Yeddyurappa, over the last few months, managed to keep dissidents at bay in a way that the BJP central office had to support him. But it was almost certain that he will go this time. Party sourcses said it was unlikely that Yeddyurappa may get a sympathetic hearing from the high command this time.
BJP sources that party president Nitin Gadakari;s meeting with Yeddyurappa on his return from England was indicative of the fact that BJP was treating the matter seriously.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad clarified saying, : “Illegal mining is wrong. There is no doubt about it. The party will take a judicious decision that is expected of us.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Wednesday that it would take a call on Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa continuing in office after going through the "voluminous report" of the Lokayukta on illegal mining.
As speculation intensified on whether Yeddyurappa, the BJP's first chief minister in the country's south, would remain in office, party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said: "It will take some time to gothrough the voluminous report. After that we can take some decision."
The report names the chief minister amongst others as being responsible for illegal mining and resultant land scams.
According to a highly placed party source, action is likely against Yeddyurappa after the report is tabled.
However, the nature of the action was yet to be decided as the party had to take a call between its first government in south India and its position in New Delhi.
"If he is indicted in the report then action might be taken, it depends on what he is being held guilty of," a party insider told IANS, admitting that Yeddyurappa had backing inKarnataka but a decision would have repercussions on the anti-corruption stance of the party in New Delhi.
"An action taken report is supposed to be filed in the report within three months. That will be done depending on what the report says, but it is not final what action will be taken," another senior leader said.
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