Gowda tops Yeddyurappa successor list

"The BJP legislature party meeting will be held here Aug 3 at 11 a.m. to elect the new leader as talks among the leaders and legislators are still in progress," the party´s general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan said in Bangalore.

Earlier on Sunday, after high drama that peaked with a walk with supporters to the Raj Bhavan in the rain, B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday resigned as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after ruling the state for three years and two months.

"I have resigned as CM," he told reporters after emerging out of the Raj Bhavan.

After keeping the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership on the tenterhooks, Yeddyurappa, who was indicted by the Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hedge in the illegal mining report, finally submitted his resignation to Governor H R Bhardwaj.

He walked to the Raj Bhavan with about 70 MLAs who were rallying behind him all along the crisis.

There was high drama till the last moment of his resignation.

"I have done my best. I hope the new chief minister will take the state forward," he said, adding that he served the people to his best ability.

He read out every development work he carried out as the CM before the media. He listed all his works in a statement in his over three years´ tenure that saw many close shaves for the leader.

He had earlier sent his resignation to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari.

Among his conditions for resignation, reports said, are to appoint a new chief minister of his choice and not party leader Ananth Kumar.

He had also wanted to be the party president in the state, but the BJP top brass seemed only agreeing to selecting a chief minister of his choice (DV Sadananda Gowda), according to indications.

After the top brass of the BJP took a tough position a day ago and hinted that it was ready to sacrifice the government in Karnataka, illegal mining tainted chief minister B S Yeddyurappa had agreed to step down on Sunday.

Media reports said the BJP high command told Yeddyurappa 'they were ready to sacrifice government if necessary" following which the chief minister said he would resign by 1 pm Sunday. Later the time was changed to 3-30 pm. He finally resigned after 4 pm.

Yeddyurappa said he has "no plans to defy the party high command."

BJP central leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley met the Karnataka chief minister for two hours on Saturday morning and sent a strong message to the unbending chief minister.

Even after promising to resign, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa threw in new demands late Friday to his party high command, spewing yet another twist in the crisis that began on Wednesday for the BJP in the state.

After being indicted himself along with his family by Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde in a Rs 16,000 core illegal mining scam on Wednesday, Yeddyurappa, 68, had scrambled to New Delhi to meet senior party leaders.

However, the marching orders that he got there were apparently not taken too well by him and he hurriedly returned to Bangalore early Thursday morning, still publicly denying the possibility of resigning.

Later on Thursday while the BJP announced an "unanimous" decision that they had "advised" Yeddyurappa to resign, the embattled Chief Minister in Karnataka held emergency meetings with supportive leaders and legislators, weighing his options, media reports said.

However, on Thursday evening he wrote to BJP president Nitin Gadkari saying that as a disciplined member of the party he would abide by its decision and resign from its post on Sunday, July 31.

With the crisis seemingly under control, top BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley flew down to Bangalore on Friday as observers while local party leaders selected a new Chief Minister only to find Yeddyurappa had put up an explicit show of strength to reinstate his authority in the state.

At least 14 lawmakers and 75 state legislators threw their weight behind Yeddyurappa, well over half the BJP's field in the state, and with some of them even chanting slogans, they demanded that Yeddyurappa be retained as Chief Minister .

The demand escalated the crisis for the BJP with on one hand Yeddyurappa's indictment becoming a clear disadvantage to the party at Centre whilst on the other facing a near rebellion in one of the key and few states that the party still ruled.