Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as his Assembly seat on Friday.
The 70-year-old Lingayat leader is largely credited with bringing BJP to power in Karnataka. As a Chief Minister, he faced several allegations of corruption. He had to resign from the post in 2011 after the Karnataka Lokayukta indicted him of graft.
Yeddyurappa quit his Shikaripura Assembly seat by submitting his resignation to Assembly Speaker K.G. Bopaiah and he resigned from the party’s primary membership by sending his resignation to President Nitin Gadkari.
He will formally revive the defunct Karnataka Janata Party in Haveri on December 9.
Senior BJP central leaders like Gadkari and Arun Jaitley had worked behind the scene to prevent the Lingayat leader from resigning from the party. Though his exit was expected, party leaders have been putting up a brave face saying there would be no impact. Yeddyurappa’s exit is unlikely to have any immediate impact on the stability of the Jagadish Shettar Government.