Finally, Yeddyurappa agrees to resign on Sunday

Yeddyurappa tried hard to save his post, but the BJP leadership felt that his continuation at the post could take the steam out of the party’s attack against the Congress on the matter of corruption.

Yeddyurappa hits trouble
Yeddyurappa hit trouble after the Lokpal report accused him and his family members of being involved in mining scam. The outgoing chief minister tried to secure a deal with the central leadership of the BJP before he became ready to put in his papers.

Yeddyurappa announced late Thursday night that he will quit the post on July 31, which happens to be ‘Amavasya’, considered auspicious by the outgoing leader.

Yeddyurappa’s tactics post the mining scam
Some saw the delay as a tactic to buy time to garner support of a significant number of MLAs, but Yeddyurappa refuted the rumours swiftly and said that as a disciplined soldier of the party, he would abide by the party decision.

The leader hailing from the influential Lingayata community of Karnataka asked for a decisive say in the selection of his predecessor and also a prime role in the state politics after his resignation.

The central leadership of BJP firmly refused to grant a veto to him in the selection of the new chief minister, though they promised to take his advice on the matter. This means Yeddyurappa can create hurdles in the way of his rivals within the Karnataka BJP from becoming the CM, but he will not be able to install his loyalist at the post.

During a meeting, the party president, Nitin Gadkari, along with senior leaders, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, and M. Venkaiah Naidu, told Yeddyurappa that his continuation at the post is not acceptable.

The outgoing CM agreed to the decision of the party, and it reflected in his statement, “I am ready to quit. I would like to be an ordinary party worker and abide by the party’s directives.”