I request ministers, MLAs to remain in BJP: Yeddy

Notwithstanding last-ditch efforts by state leaders to retain him in the party, Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka strongman B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday said he would go ahead with his plans to float a new party.

Yeddyurappa, who is angry with the party leadership over the treatment meted out to him, said he would neither destabilise the BJP government nor cajole ministers and Members of Legislative Assembly to resign and join him.

"I request with folded hands to ministers and MLAs to remain in the BJP till the term of the present government ends. If anybody trusts me, he or she can join my party," he told reporters.

Reacting to a team of senior party leaders visiting New Delhi to meet central leaders to work out a formula to retain him in the party, Yeddyurappa, who has announced his decision to float the new party by December 10, said he was deeply indebted to the Members of Parliament and MLAs standing behind him, but would not comment on the issue.

State BJP president and Deputy Chief Minister K S Eswarappa has said efforts were on by senior state leaders to discuss with the central leadership and evolve a formula to prevent Yeddyurappa from leaving the party.

Yeddyurappa, who led the party to install the first ever BJP government in south India, said he had dreamt of making Karnataka a highly developed and progressive state in the country, but could not do so due to some obstacles.

"To fulfill that dream, I am launching a new party," he added.