Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa has been asked to step down after July 26, the day, the ruling BJP government will complete its second year in office in the state, sources said here on Saturday.
Yediyurappa’s demand for two months time to contemplate stepping down, has been categorically rejected by the BJP high command, they added.
While the Party has offered the post of deputy chief minister to his son B.Y. Vijayendra, Yediyurappa has apparently been insisting on the post of the state party president for him.
The calculation is to go to the assembly elections under his son’s leadership, thus making Vijayendra the natural choice for the CM post.
However, the BJP high command is insisting that things should happen as per the party’s decisions, not by the conditions laid down by CM Yediyurappa.
The high command is keen on giving an honourable exit to Yediyurappa but at the same time, the party wants to take its own decisions in connection with its prospects in the state.
It is to be recalled that, Yediyurappa had defied the party top brass openly and split away to form his own party, KJP in 2012, ensuring the defeat of the BJP in the state polls of 2014. The BJP had to give a red carpet welcome to him later before assuming power in the state.