Yeddyurappa loyalist Shettar to be new Karnataka CM

New Delhi, July 8 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari on Sunday confirmed Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda's resignation, saying the latter has stepped down for the party's welfare.

Lauding Gowda's contribution at different levels within the party, Gadkari said the former would continue to be an important leader of the BJP in Karnataka.adkari further informed that Karnataka's Minister for Rural Development Jagadish Shettar would be the new legislative party leader in the state.

"A change has been made considering the political scenario. We have also made the change taking note of the upcoming assembly polls and the general elections in 2014," he said.

Gadkari said that senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh would be going to Bangalore on Monday to attend a state BJP meeting as observers to sanction Shettar's appointment as Karnataka chief minister.

Shettar, who has the backing of former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, will be the third BJP chief minister in the state in four years since the party came to power there in 2008.

The announce by the BJP central leadership came after intense parleys at Gadkari's residence, which aimed to take decision to end the ongoing political stalemate in Karnataka.

Gowda himself flew down to Delhi to meet BJP patriarch LK Advani, besides senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar.

"The entire political situation of Karnataka was discussed. As Gadkari is coming to Delhi late at night, Gowda will meet him tomorrow morning. Whatever decision the party has taken will be announced tomorrow morning after Gowda's meeting with the party president," senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley told the media after the meeting here on Saturday.

Gowda, who replaced Yeddyurappa after the latter was removed in the wake of corruption charges, yesterday said that he was prepared to accept whatever decision is taken by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership.

"I am prepared to accept whatever decision is taken by BJP central leadership. I am ready to quit if my party high command tells me to," he told media here.

The crisis in the Karnataka BJP intensified last week after nine ministers resigned from the State Cabinet, thereby projecting a show of strength in their campaign for ousting Chief Minister Gowda.

The ministers, who quit earlier were Jagadish Shettar (Rural Development), CM Udasi (PWD), Murugesh Nirani (Industries), V Somanna (Housing), Umesh Katti (Agriculture), Basavaraj Bommai (Water Resources), Revu Naik Belamagi (Libraries and Animal Husbandry), M P Renukacharya (Excise) and Raju Gowda (Small Scale Industries). (ANI)