'Goodbye Friday' for Yeddyurappa

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It is going to be a 'Goodbye Friday’ for former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa as he will be quitting the BJP and resigning as an MLA from the Assembly.

The Lingayat strongman is planning a grand march from Freedom Park in Bangalore to the Vidhana Soudha – the seat of legislative power -- on Friday morning before he submits his resignation to the Speaker. Bangalore is bracing up for a major traffic logjam even as the BJP is trying hard to keep its flock together.

The 69-year-old Yeddyurappa has been associated with the BJP for over 40 years and his quitting the saffron party will lead to major political realignment before the Assembly election early next year.

After resigning, Yeddyurappa will head straight to Haveri in north Karnataka where he will formally launch his political outfit – the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) – on December 9.

The BJP is putting up a brave front though there are reports that many grassroot workers are going to join the KJP. But sources say that Yeddyurappa's departure will damage its prospects of retaining power in next year's elections.

Yeddyurappa is banking heavily on support from his Lingayat community spread across north and central Karnataka and comprising 17 per cent of the state's 65 million population.

It is generally believed that the BJP captured power in the last assembly polls because of the mass backing of Lingayats. But to counter this, the BJP has come across an LKG formula – Lingayat (Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar), Kuruba (Deputy CM Eshwarappa) and Gowda (Deputy CM R Ashoka).

In order to prevent ministers and legislators loyal to Yeddyurappa from following him, BJP state president K.S. Eshwarappa has issued a warning and a bait – those who attend the Yeddyurappa rally will not get a party ticket in the upcoming polls; those who remain with the party will get tickets and full party backing.