Till Wednesday, the mood at the BJP headquarters in Delhi was that of leadership change in the state. A section of central leaders, including opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, party national general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan and RSS nominee to the party in-charge of Karnataka affairs Satish, had drawn up a plan to prop up Lingayat leader from North Karnataka Jagadish Shettar as the next chief minister. The plan was to hold on to the goodwill created by the party strongman B.S. Yeddyurappa with the largest community in the state.
Mr Shettar had also been sounded out about the possible leadership change during his visit to Delhi. Apparently elated over the central leadership’s decision, BSY camp followers spread the word around saying that they had received ‘sweet news’ from Delhi.
But their hopes were dashed when senior leader L.K. Advani and party national president Nitin Gadkari rejected the proposal. The resignation of nine ministers only worsened the situation with Mr Gadkari further hardening the stand. He reportedly asked Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda to accept the minsters’ resignations, but with a rider that Mr Gowda should ensure completion of the BJP’s term in the state.
The Sadananda Gowda group, including BJP state unit president K.S. Eshwarappa, got back to the party central leadership with the defence that SC/STs, Vokkaligas and other backward communities too supported the party. This seemed to jolt the party central leadership. When Mr Pradhan met BSY supporters on Saturday, he told them that the party cannot afford to hurt the sentiments of Vokkaligas too.