‘Not resigning in grief, will help next CM’: Yediyurappa steps down from Karnataka top job

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa announced on Monday that he would step down from the post, putting to rest months of speculations amid reports of unease in the state government.

The 78-year-old Lingayat leader met governor Thawar Chand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan moments after his announcement.  “I am not resigning in grief. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and (BJP president) JP Nadda have given me a two-year term as CM, and I can’t thank them enough,” he said at an event marking the second anniversary of his government; his voice was choking with tears.

As the news broke, Nadda separately spoke to Shah and the BJP’s Karnataka in-charge, Arun Singh. According to sources, Yediyurappa was asked to continue as the caretaker CM till a replacement was announced. Among the probable names doing the rounds are that of Union minister Pralhad Joshi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretaries BL Santosh and CT Ravi.

On Twitter, Yediyurappa said the development of all was the BJP’s philosophy, even as he stressed that the “upliftment of poor, oppressed, backward communities, senior citizens, women and children” had been his priority in the last 50 years.

BSYediyurappa set to quit |Follow LIVE Updates: bit.ly/3y57iaD

“It has been an honour to have served the state for the past two years. I have decided to resign as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. I am humbled and sincerely thank the people of the state for giving me the opportunity to serve them,” he said in a second tweet.

While leaving the Raj Bhavan, Yediyurappa told reporters that he faced “no pressure from the high command” and that he was “voluntarily stepping down” and submitting his resignation.

“I have not recommended any names (for the CM post)…Whoever is appointed, I will work with him to build the party. I will not accept any gubernatorial role. I will be very much in Karnataka only. I will work to bring the party to power in the next election.”

Stressing his commitment towards the state, Yediyurappa said BJP stalwart Atal Bihar Vajpayee had offered him a Union minister’s post when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, but he did not want to “leave Karnataka”.

Earlier, Yediyurappa said he had offered to resign about two months ago in order to make way for others, while he also maintained that central leaders of the BJP did not discuss the issue during his visit to the national capital earlier this month.

Amid speculations over his exit, the BJP leadership, as well as the outgoing CM, have maintained that there is no crisis in the Karnataka unit of the party that they say remains united.

Yediyurappa, the BJP’s only (and also the first) chief minister in southern India, has thanked PM Modi and home minister Shah for giving him another opportunity while admitting that leaders above 75 in the BJP generally don’t get the coveted post.

Nonetheless, support has poured in for Yediyurappa from Mutts and pontiffs, especially from his influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, over the past few weeks.

Yediyurappa, who led a BJP government in Karnataka from 2008-2011 (before he was asked to step down over graft charges), took oath again in 2019, after a dramatic collapse of a Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance.

With Yediyurappa appearing on the verge of exit, there have been speculations over the past weeks about what would happen to the more than 15 leaders whose abrupt resignation brought down the previous coalition government. Some of them have been accommodated in the Cabinet, in an act of fine balance evident from Yediyurappa’s repeated juggling of portfolios earlier this year.

“It was a surprise for me. He (Yediyurappa) told me that he may receive a favourable decision from the high command by 26 July. But we all have to abide by the norms of the party. He is only quitting the CM post, not active politics,” Karnataka minister K Sudhakar said.

Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah latched on to the development to take a dig at the BJP.  “There is no benefit for the common man if one corrupt CM is removed to make another corrupt as CM. Instead, the whole BJP party, which is responsible for the miseries of people, should be ousted,” he tweeted.