The top brass of Bharatiya Janata Party is meeting on Tuesday to take a "final decision" on the Karnataka stand-off with Janata Dal (S) as state party in-charge Yashwant Sinha holds discussions with party MLAs and other state leaders in Bangalore.
"There is nothing much to be done. The ball is in the JD(S)'s court. And the final decision has to be taken today. The message from our side is clear and loud. Today is the last day for JD(S) to keep the promise," said a top party source.
"We are even ready to knock the people's door for their decision. There is no point in waiting till 5 or 15," he added.
Irked by JD(S)'s unwillingness to pass on the baton agreed to 20 months ago, the BJP had given time till today to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to step down and his party to give a letter of support to the Governor.
BJP's confidence comes from both its improved performance in the local body election and a dismal chance of the Congress extending a friendly hand to JD(S), sources added.
With reports of infighting within the BJP suggesting that a former union minister and a senior party leader were lobbying against deputy Chief Minister D S Yediyurappa, the party was also forced to make a statement projecting an intact house.
"The party is united and one behind Yediyurappa. He will be the next chief minister and reports suggesting otherwise are baseless," BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters.
Today's meeting will be chaired by party leader Rajnath Singh and attended by, among others, L K Advani. The party also indicated that it would not give any more support to JD(S) to continue to head the government.
On the other hand, the JD(S) said a meeting of its MLAs, leaders and executive members would be held here on October 4 and the political affairs committee on October 5 in New Delhi to decide on the issue, a clear signal that it was not in a mood to keep its commitment.