Top BJP Leaders Get Into a Huddle After Yediyurappa Steps Down as Karnataka State Chief

India's Karnataka is the only southern state ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Out of the 224-member state legislature, BJP has 120 members, while Congress, the main opposition party, has 68 legislators.

Ending days of speculation over his imminent ouster, Karnataka State Chief Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa handed over his resignation to Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on Monday afternoon. The Lingayat strongman Yediyurappa, who started his political life as member of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh in 1970, broke down during the state assembly while making the announcement.

"It has been an honour to have served the state for the past two years. I have decided to resign as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. I am humbled and sincerely thank the people of the state for giving me the opportunity to serve them," Yediyurappa said, thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and party leaders like Amit Shah and Jai Prakash Nadda for providing him with the opportunity to lead the state.

Yediyurappa, who served as state chief four times, said he would extend his 100% support to the party in the next elections.

The resignation has come on the day his government completes two years in office. Hours before the resignation, he had prepared a report card of the work done by his government during those two years and posted it on Twitter.

On the occasion of completion of 2 years in office, I will present my government's Report Card to the people of Karnataka at 11 AM today in Vidhana Soudha.

You can watch the event live:https://t.co/jlFwj5qfv6

— B.S. Yediyurappa (@BSYBJP) July 26, 2021

​Four-term Karnataka state chief Yediyurappa, 78, had earlier denied a leadership change following his return to Karnataka from New Delhi after meeting senior leaders.

But an audio clip leaked on 18 July had led to political buzz again on the leadership issue and a reported rift among the state party workers.

Yediyurappa was BJP's first and only state chief in the south. He came to power in 2019 after a dramatic coup that saw the Janata Dal Secular-Congress government crashing after the abrupt resignation of 18 rebels.

Meanwhile, BJP's top leadership has started consultations to select the next leader of the party after Yediyurappa's departure. BJP President Nadda and senior party leader Pralhad Joshi met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and sources said that the party will send observers to state capital Bengaluru. The date of the legislature party meet has yet to be decided.