BSY bargains hard, wants CM chair after budget

New Delhi: Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi to seek assurances that he would be reinstated as the head of the state government soon. Sources told CNN-IBN that Yeddyurappa, who is leading a rebellion against present Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, demanded that he be made the chief minister again by the first week of April.

He submitted a letter claiming the support of 67 MLAs to Gadkari and said that if he was promised that he would replace Gowda, then he would ensure the smooth passage of the budget in the Assembly session which ends on March 29.

"We met Nitin Gadkari. I don’t know what was the discussion with our Chief Minister. That is for the High Command to decide," replied Yeddyurappa when asked about the chief minister changing.

Earlier, Gowda met Gadkari and said that he had been assured that there would be no leadership change in the state.

"The BJP High Command has told me there is no leadership change at present in Karnataka. We discussed political scenario with the BJP chief," said Gowda.

Gowda arrived in the capital late on Wednesday night with Karnataka BJP chief KS Eshwarrappa.

A section within the party wants Yeddyurappa back after the BJP's loss in the Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha bypoll.

Senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Lok Sabha MP Sushma Swaraj have opposed the move but Gadkari Rajya Sabha MP Arun Jaitley and former president Rajnath Singh are in favour of installing Yeddyurappa as the chief minister again.

Yeddyurappa is very important for the BJP is the state as he controls Lingayat votes across Karnataka. Lingayats account for 18 per cent of the voters and are fully with him. He enjoys the support of about 60 BJP MLAs and 13 BJP MPs. He controls many BJP district and taluk units. He can harm party in Lingayat areas in the next election.

Yeddyurappa has a huge money power and has the backing of Gadkari. He is also the senior most BJP leader in Karnataka and its best known face.

The BJP central leadership had forced Yeddyurappa to quit in July 2011 after he was indicted by the Lokyukta report on illegal mining that had caused a political storm in the state. On March 8, the High Court cleared him in the case.