Consensus important to choose new Karnataka CM: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi/Bangalore, July 29 (ANI): Prior to his departure to Bangalore to elect a new legislature party leader, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh today said that the decision and selection of a new leader in Karnataka would be taken after a meeting with the incumbent chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.

Under sharp criticism for his alleged role in the illegal mining scam, Yeddyurappa issued a statement on late Thursday night, saying he will tendered his resignation on July 31.

Singh said that the party would discuss the next course of action, after holding discussions with the state party unit.

"We will talk to Yeddyurappa and other officials too and after the meeting, the effort would be to take a decision on the basis of a consensus with regards to the selection of a BJP leader in the state," Singh told mediapersons at his official residence in New Delhi.

"Yeddyurappa is the senior leader of our party in Karnataka and definitely we will talk to him," he added.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who accompanied Rajnath Singh to Bangalore, however, refused to comment on the matter.

According to reports, the leaders, who have emerged as top contenders for the chief minister's post are Karnataka BJP president KS Eshwarappa, Lok Sabha MP Sadanand Gowda, Higher Education Minister V S Acharya, Law and Justice Minister Suresh Kumar S, party national general secretary and MP Ananth Kumar, Rural Development minister Jagadish Shettar, a Lingayat leader and Yeddyurappa's close associate and minister Shoba Karandlaje.

The BJP Parliamentary Board earlier on Thursday after a meeting attended by party veterans L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu announced that that there needs to be a change of Chief Minister in Karnataka.

"This morning the BJP Parliamentary Board met at the residence of Nitin Gadkari. In the presence of various leaders the Board has unanimously decided that there should be a change in the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Accordingly the party has asked current Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa has been asked to tender his resignation immediately," said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Justice Hegde on Wednesday confirmed that Lokayukta registrar Moosa Kunhi NayarMoole had submitted the illegal mining report to the state Chief Secretary S V Ranganath.

Justice Hegde also confirmed that the report indicts Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, members of his family and a trust run by them, and added that in the four-year period between 2006 and 2010, the loss to the Karnataka exchequer from illegal mining was to the tune of Rs.16, 085 crores. (ANI)