It is learnt that Yeddyurappa told the party top brass that he has the backing of 40 MLAs who would stand by him come what may.
Though the BJP national executive has asked Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to step down, a defiant CM says he will not. “If the party high command sacks me, I will sink the BJP boat in the state,” Yeddyurappa said on Saturday.
It is learnt that Yeddyurappa told the party top brass that he has the backing of 40 MLAs who would stand by him come what may.
By taking an aggressive stand, the CM has sent a message to the national leadership and the state unit that an alternative leader can emerge only after elections.
A senior BJP leader in the Yeddyurappa camp told DNA that when the land scam allegations emerged, the CM had been prepared to challenge the national leadership if it asked him to step down.
“In fact he told a few of his trusted colleagues in the cabinet to be prepared to split the BJP and float a regional party,” the source claimed.
Returning to Karnataka on Saturday after attending the party’s core committee meeting in Delhi, Yeddyurappa said: “There is no question of change in leadership in the remaining two-and-half-years of the state government’s term. Why should I resign? There is no offence from my side. I have not committed any mistake.”
He pointed out that the BJP had fought the 2008 assembly elections under his leadership. “If the party wants to fight the next elections under someone else’s leadership, I will support (that person) fully,” the CM said.
DNA, however, has learnt that the BJP national leadership has set a new deadline for the CM to quit.
Yeddyurappa is leaving for Delhi on Sunday to reiterate his stand in front of the BJP national leadership.
The CM said a retired Supreme Court judge would probe all land denotifications since 1994 and he would be asked to submit his report within six months. “I’m ready to quit politics if the judicial inquiry finds me guilty,” said Yeddyurappa.
Reacting to the Opposition demand that he step aside till the inquiry is completed, Yeddyurappa asked how many chief ministers had resigned on mere allegations. He said the charges against him were baseless and the intention was to create confusion ahead of local body elections.
Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said “Yeddyurappa is blackmailing the BJP national leaders. By surrendering land, he is trying to escape, but there is ample evidence to show that he committed a big fraud.”
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