Buoyed by the Karnataka High Court’s decision to grant advance bail to former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, his die-hard supporters have decided to take the campaign to unseat Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to the logical end, albeit after securing a go-ahead from central leaders.
As soon as news of the court’s orders reached him, the embattled former chief minister was advised by his confidantes against demanding reinstatement, and to play his role behind the scenes as they would mount pressure on central leaders to replace Mr Sadananda Gowda with fellow Lingayat and rural development and panchayat raj minister, Jagadish Shettar.
In New Delhi, his lieutenant Lehar Singh, MLC, reportedly extracted an assurance from senior leader Arun Jaitley that a decision would be taken soon on change of leadership. This was preceded by a meeting between Mr. Shettar and state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa at the party office, where the former reportedly defended the demand for convening a meeting of the legislature party.