Karnataka political crisis deepens

The political crisis in Karnataka has deepened, with a clear split emerging within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The crisis has come in the wake of the party’s central leadership directing Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to resign after the Lokayukta on Wednesday submitted a report indicting him.

For the second time in less than three days, Mr. Yeddyurappa on Saturday conveyed to the central observers — the former BJP president, Rajnath Singh, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley — that he would resign on Sunday, July 31. But given the political twists and turns witnessed through the day, and behind-the-scenes confabulations among party seniors, it is doubtful if the Chief Minister would actually resign.

Two factions have emerged in the party: one loyal to the central leadership and the other loyal to Mr. Yeddyurappa. Mr. Yeddyurappa himself has chosen to remain in the background but he is calling the shots through his loyalists.

The open defiance has only escalated despite the party headquarters in New Delhi and the observers who are now in Bangalore establishing channels of communication with Mr. Yeddyurappa. Under the circumstances, the central leadership may even resort to disciplinary action against Mr. Yeddyurappa, which may be in the form of suspension from party membership. Such a step is also expected to enable the party to ascertain whether the legislators who are now with him would fall in line to obey the directions from New Delhi.

The central observers have made it clear that they are in Bangalore to seek and get the Chief Minister's resignation and to facilitate the election of a new leader of the BJP Legislature Party. In other words, they are not here to meet the demands of the Chief Minister. These demands are that the next Chief Minister should be a legislator of his choice and that he should be made president of the State BJP unit. On Saturday, an additional demand was made: that the party MP from Bangalore South and Union Minister, Ananth Kumar, should not be the chief ministerial choice.

Through the day, it has been a numbers game with one section claiming that it has more than the other. The direction of the central observers to the legislators to meet them individually to express their choice of leader, took a back seat, with the party deciding that it has to first obtain the resignation of the Chief Minister and that other issues could be finalised later. Of a total strength of 120 that the BJP has in the Assembly, the Chief Minister’s camp is believed to have a bigger share than the rival faction.

Legislators loyal to the Reddy brothers (of Bellary fame) have remained in the background, although officially they claim that they are with the central leadership and also have respect for the Chief Minister. Should they extend support to Mr. Yeddyurappa, with whom they have a common cause in the context of the report on illegal mining submitted by the Lokayukta, the Yeddyurappa camp will emerge even stronger than it is now.

Keywords: Yeddyurappa resignation, Karnataka political crisis, illegal mining, Lokayukta report