In a last ditch attempt to save his seat, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa left for New Delhi on Sunday evening to meet with the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Before leaving, the chief minister held a meeting of all his party leaders and sought to know how many legislators supported his claim to the CM's seat.
Sources who attended that meeting told rediff.com that the chief minister had the unconditional support of 30 members of legislative assembly, who assured him that they would also step down if Yeddyurappa was removed from his post.
The rest of the MLAs remained non-committal and said that they would take a final decision only after the CM talks to BJP's top leaders.
The 30 MLAs who supported the CM offered to go with him to New Delhi, but they were advised against it since the high command had told Yeddyurappa to come by himself.
According to sources, the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to remove the Karnataka chief minister from his post.
The BJP high command, after much deliberation, has decided to drop Yeddyurappa as chief minister after serious accusations of an alleged land scam were made against him by the Opposition. Sources in the BJP told rediff.com that the party would have to ensure that Yeddyurappa doesn't lead a rebellion following his ouster as CM.
The chief minister had earlier told the high command that if he is asked to step down, he would take down the government with him. Yeddyurappa was also planning to take all the ministers in his camp to New Delhi to urge the high command to change its decision. But he was advised to come alone to New Delhi and meet the party's top leaders.
Yeddyurappa ruled out reports that the BJP wanted to replace him. "I am the only person who can replace me," he told reporters in Bengaluru and claimed that he enjoyed the support of all the MLAs.
Yeddyurappa, who has survived two trust votes recently, has faced allegations of a land scam favouring his sons and relatives. He has since then ordered a judicial probe into the matter and his sons have returned the concerned land.
But the BJP leadership still wants him to step down as the land scam issue would weaken its moral stance on the issue of corruption and its campaign against the alleged murky deals of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The BJP leaders are aware of the fact Yeddyurappa helped the party form its first government in south India, and his ouster would affect the vote bank of the influential Lingayat community.
According to sources, the BJP's top brass would give two options to the beleaguered chief minister. He can either choose his successor and then step down, or resign now with the assurance that he will be reinstated if the probe results declare him to be innocent.
The BJP's top leadership and rebels in BJP want Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar to be the next CM. But Yeddyurappa may oppose this decision as he is apprehensive that Shettar may replace him as the prominent Lingayat leader in the state, said sources.
If Yeddyurappa agrees to step down, he would want Law Minister Suresh Kumar to take over as the CM, according to sources. Yeddyurappa feels that Kumar will not try to set up his own support base once he becomes the CM and would let go of the position when Yeddyurappa is reinstated.
