Chief Minister of Karnataka

The Chief Minister of Karnataka B S Yeddyurappa is on his way out. The decision to this effect was made at the meeting held at the residence of NDA Working Chairman L K Advani on Monday itself, where Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, BJP president Nitin Gadkari and Karnataka BJP president K S Eswarappa were present. At the meeting, all the leaders were of the view that given the seriousness of the indictment of Yeddyurappa by Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, his position has become untenable and he can no longer continue in office.

Actually Yeddyurappa’s ouster came up for discussion at the NDA meeting on Tuesday, where BJP allies, including NDA convenor Sharad Yadav, was assured that an appropriate decision would be taken against Yeddyurappa. Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, the NDA leaders’ meeting decided on their strategy to take the Congress-led UPA government head-on, particularly when former telecom minister A Raja has named both the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for being in the loop on the irregularities committed by him in the 2G scam.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first chief minister in south India is known to be a dogged fighter and has come up the hard way from the ranks. But all those battles would pale in comparison in the face of hurdles he now faces. Those were battles against other parties and critics within.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa's options to stay on in power are dwindling, with the Lokayukta naming him in the report on illegal mining and police beginning to probe corruption cases against him.His staunch supporters in the party will egg him on to stay on, pointing out weaknesses in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.

The report is to be submitted to the government Monday by the Lokayukta, N. Santosh Hegde, a retired judge of the Supreme Court whose term as ombudsman ends Aug 2.