The outgoing Karnataka chief minister has reportedly suggested a list of names to succeed him after the BJP central leadership made it clear today that he will not be heading the state party unit.
Outgoing Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has reportedly suggested a list of names to succeed him after the BJP central leadership made it clear today that he will not be heading the state party unit.
Party sources said the choice for chief minister is still open and negotiations were on between the central observers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and the Yeddyurappa camp.
The outgoing chief minister, who has now categorically told the central leadership that he will submit his resignation tomorrow, has suggested some names and said as long as a choice is made from this panel he would not object.
Among the front-runners for the chief minister's post are law and justice minister Suresh Kumar S, Udipi MP and former state unit president Sadanand Gowda and higher education minister V S Acharya.
Kumar is said to be a leader with a clean image who is close to the RSS. However, he is considered a light-weight. Moreover, he is a Brahmin, a community which is numerically not very strong in Karnataka.
The central leadership is said to be in two minds about Gowda, a Vokkaliga leader, as he is considered too amiable and hence may not be able to quell any dissenting voices. He may not be a good administrator either, some in the party feel.
Acharya, a Brahmin, is acceptable to many across the board but is now reportedly losing out in the race, sources said.
The name of Shoba Karandlaje, a close associate of Yeddyurappa, was suggested by some leaders of the party but the chief minister himself is not keen on it. Hence her name was dropped.
Meanwhile, it has been made clear by the central leadership to Yeddyurappa that since he is having a say on who becomes the next chief minister, he will himself have to give up his demand of becoming the state unit chief. This would mean Eshwarappa may be allowed to continue.
Sources close to Yeddyurappa said he has asked governor HR Bhardwaj for an appointment tomorrow anytime after 1 pm when the inauspicious time, as per astrological calender, gets over. He will then tender his resignation.
A clear picture on the successor will emerge only tomorrow, sources said.
After the BJP central leadership made it clear that the new chief minister will be chosen only in consultation with Yeddyurappa, he has conveyed that the names of his bete noire Ananth Kumar, rural development and Panchayati Raj minister Jagadish Shettar and state unit president KS Eshwarappa were not acceptable to him.
Kumar has been in the forefront in fomenting rebellion against Yeddyurappa in the past, Shettar is a Lingayat leader who may emerge as a challenge to Yeddyurappa as both belong to the same community, while Eshwarappa - who has also faced corruption charges in the past - and the chief minister have had major differences in the recent past.
The BJP does not want as chief minister a leader who cannot ensure smooth sailing for the remaining two years of this assembly in Karnataka. This is said to be the main factor weighing on the minds of party president Nitin Gadkari and his team.
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