Facing the worst crisis of the three years it has been in power, the ruling BJP is likely to witness a silent coup to unseat controversial chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa once he returns from a holiday in Mauritius.
Highly placed sources in the party said the initiative to get Mr Yeddyurapa out of the saddle is being taken by none other than his Shimoga colleague and party state president K.S. Eshwarappa. A hush-hush campaign has already begun in the party to diminish the clout the CM wielded in the organisation, soon after he was indicted in the Lokayukta report.
Joining hands with Mr Eshwarappa in the anti-BSY campaign is his arch rival and party national general secretary Ananth Kumar who has managed to rope in home and transport minister R. Ashok to lend his support to the move. In fact, soon after the Lokayukta report was leaked to the media, Mr Ananth Kumar and Mr Eshwarappa held two rounds of discussion to chalk out their future course of action.
A change is already evident in the style and functioning of Mr Eshwarappa since Friday, admit party workers, indicating that he is preparing himself to take over for the remaining two years of the BJP government’s tenure. The mood in the party, which was pretty gloomy on Friday, has turned to one of resilience after the Ananth camp took over the sensitive task of handling the media, the sources said.
According to the secret pact between Mr Kumar and Mr Eshwarappa, the day after the Lokayukta submits his final report (July 26), they will approach central leaders seeking Mr Yeddyurappa’s resignation.