Yeddyurappa 'seething in anger' after party says not now

Bangalore, Feb 24: Karnataka BJP strongman B S Yeddyurappa is believed to have felt let down by the party's central leadership as it resisted his pressure to reinstate him as chief minister, apparently leaving him "seething in anger".

Sources close to Yeddyurappa said he was furious and red-faced after BJP President Nitin Gadkari told him in clear terms that replacing Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda is out of the question as of now and he has to first come clean on corruption charges being faced in court. "Yeddyurappa was furious and seething in anger," a source said.

Yeddyurappa resigned on July 31 last year after being forced to do by the party high command in the wake of his indictment by the Lokayukta report on illegal mining. He said at the time he would be back as chief minister in six months. It's nearly seven months now, with Yeddyurappa holding no position in the party, which he helped build from the grass roots playing a key role over three decades.

In recent weeks, it was clear that Yeddyurappa was running out of patience and desperate to stage a comeback. The 'Chintan-Mantan baitak', scheduled to be held for two days from today, was cut short for mere two hours with Gadkari delivering the speech. For the record, party leaders said Gadkari had to leave early because of Uttar Pradesh elections, while one "insider" said it's aimed at preventing the "infighting" getting into "ugly" in full media glare.

Some Yeddyurappa supporters sought to forward the argument that he is toying with the idea of floating a regional party but it's largely seen as a pressure tactic aimed at the central leadership to yield to his demand.

PTI