Yeddy tones down, promises to obey BJP's orders

After striking a defiant note for days, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday said he would abide by the final decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party high command about him.

"Whatever decision our national leaders are going to take about me, I am going to obey their orders," he told reporters on Tuesday morning.

"Today, I am going to meet all our national leaders and I am going to explain the situation in Karnataka. We are facing zila panchayat elections within a month," he said.

Asked if he would step down, the chief minister said, "I have not committed any mistake. I will meet the central leaders. Whatever they say, I will obey. But so far, nobody has asked for my resignation".

The chief minister said he had discussed the political situation in Karnataka with senior leader Arun Jaitley and would meet other central leaders on Tuesday. Yeddyurappa is likely to meet BJP leader Nitin Gadkari later in the afternoon to discuss the crisis. He maintained that the central leadership has not asked him to step down, adding that he had ordered an inquiry into the alleged land scams by retired high court judge Justice B Patmaraj.

Top party leaders, including L K Advani, M M Joshi and Rajnath Singh have reportedly   decided that the chief minister's continuance has become untenable and that he should step down. The chief minister has, however, kept the party guessing on the future course of action.

Yeddyurappa has reportedly told the party leadership that his removal might harm the first-ever BJP government in south India. Yeddyurappa has earlier deputed a team of his loyalists, including Home Minister R Ashok, a prominent Vokkaliga leader, Higher Education Minister V S Acharya, a probable to replace the chief minister in the event of his exit, and some others to Delhi to persuade the party against change in leadership.

Asked if he was 'blackmailing' the central BJP leadership because he was a Lingayat leader, Yeddyurappa said, "All communities are supporting me because we have 110 seats in the House. This type of communal thinking was never in my mind".

Queried on what his response would be in case his party asked him to resign, he shot back saying, "I will not answer such questions because they have not asked me to step down."