Endgame set to begin for Karnataka CM

The endgame for Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa looms large as Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde is slated to give the final investigation report on the multi-crore mining scam in the state tomorrow.

If the voluminous report holds the chief minister guilty of direct involvement under the Prevention of Corruption Act as a public servant and if the Lokayukta recommends his prosecution, Yeddyurappa is bound to step down, pending further enquiry.

According to the Lokayukta Act, the government has three months time to accept or reject the report and its recommendations. So far as the prosecution is concerned, the governor is empowered to proceed only against the chief minister, while it will be the prerogative of the chief minister to proceed against the cabinet ministers and officials held guilty by the report.

The state unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is holding hectic parleys to decide on the successor to Yeddyurappa. Even though Yeddyurappa has refused to resign as the chief minister, there are enough indications available within the party that hint at a change of leadership in the state.

Nitin Gadkari, national president of BJP has already hinted that he has got assurance from Yeddyurappa that he would abide by whatever decision the BJP chief would take.

Talking to reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday, Yeddyurappa also said he would act according to the decision of the party high command. “As a disciplined worker of the BJP, I will abide by whatever decision the party high command or the leadership will take on the Lokayukta probe report. It will be premature to comment as the report is yet to be submitted to my government,” a defiant Yeddyurappa said.

However, he was bargaining with the high command for a say in the selection of his successor, the party sources said.

As the central leaders of the BJP have rejected Yeddyurappa’s proposal of dissolving the assembly and going for a fresh mandate, the party circles are abuzz with the name of the next leader of the party in the state.

Yeddyurappa held a meeting of his close associates at his Dollars Colony residence in Bangalore this morning to elicit their views. Former state BJP president Sadananda Gowda, state president K S Eshwarappa, ministers Jagadish Shettar, Basavarj Bommai, Lakshman Savadi, Umesh Katti, C C Patil, attended the meeting, among others. The leaders also discussed on the situation emerging post-submission of Lokayukta report.

According to party sources, there are four to five contenders for the chief minister’s post following Yeddyurappa’s resignation. They are Jagadish Shettar, minister for rural development and panchayat raj, K S Eshwarappa, state BJP president, H N Ananth Kumar, former central minister and member of Parliament, V S Acharya, minister for higher education, Suresh Kumar, minister for law and urban development and R Ashok, minister for home and transport. Meanwhile, the chief minister is said to have suggested the name of Shobha Karandlaje, minister for energy.

Jagadish Shettar, like Yeddyurappa, also hails from the strong Lingayat community, which is strongly behind the chief minister. The party functionaries are actively thinking on selecting him as the next chief minister.

It is said that the chief minister went to Delhi recently along with Shobha Karandlaje and met the party leaders to discuss about her becoming the next chief minister, in case he had to resign. He was also learnt to have asked the party leaders to make him as the State BJP unit president, promising to bring the party back to power in the next State elections.

Her name was also discussed in the BJP state committee meeting held on July 14-15 at Hubli. However, it was strongly opposed by some Vokkaliga leaders, including Home Minister R Ashok, who is senior to her in the party.