BSY to quit BJP, launch own outfit?

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Is former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa considering the option of quitting the BJP before the next Assembly elections and striking out on his own by launching a new party? Or is his posturing as a ‘rebel’ leader inside the Assembly and outside, a mere pressure tactic to make sure he is in a dominant position and able to dictate ticket distribution when the next Assembly polls are due?

Sources said the former CM is seriously considering the option though he has not yet decided on the timing. He has gone to the extent of sharing his views with a Congress MP, said sources.

Mr Yeddyurappa has been calling up MLAs who were once close to him, in an attempt to close ranks and persuade them to join him when it’s time to break away. Sources said he has already met former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu and discussed the subject.

His grouse: The BJP has made the best use of his popularity and the clout he enjoys in the Lingayat community to win polls and come to power but has not given him much in return.

”The party appointed K.S. Eshwarappa as party state chief against my wishes and since then, I have not been involved in party affairs. So, there is no point in continuing my association with the party,” he told his confidants out of frustration.

Sources said the former chief minister had already drawn up a plan and is giving his vehicle a new look to enable him embark on a state tour. Pune-based vehicle designer Dileep Chabria has reportedly agreed to redesign the five-seater vehicle which will be converted into a three-seater with an open roof fitted with a small crane to enable BSY address the public.

The tour is likely to begin in the first week of August. But everything depends on whether the former CM will come clean in the illegal mining scam with the CBI gunning for his custodial interrogation and opposing the anticipatory bail granted to him, “Mr Yeddyurappa will tour the state and after completing the exercise, he is likely to announce the formation of a new party by Vijaya Dashami,” sources said.

He has reportedly told his confidants that his party could win 50 seats in the 2013 polls which will make it easy for him to forge a post-poll alliance with the Congress and come to power.