More than his exit, BSY's continuance apt for Cong

The Congress may claim victory for the exit of BS Yeddyurappa as the Karnataka chief minister, but his continuance in office would have suited the party more and given it an edge over the BJP on the issue of corruption, feel Congress managers.

The Congress may claim victory for the exit of BS Yeddyurappa as the Karnataka chief minister, but his continuance in office would have suited the party more and given it an edge over the BJP on the issue of corruption, feel Congress managers.

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With the monsoon session of Parliament beginning from August 1, the Congress had already prepared a comprehensive strategy to nail the BJP on the corruption issue after outgoing Karnataka lokayukta justice Santosh Hegde indicted Yeddyurappa and four ministers, including the Reddy brothers and others in the illegal mining in the state.

Yeddyurappa's continuance would have put the BJP in a tight spot and weaken its ability to attack the Congress and the UPA government in and outside parliament.

"His exit will take away the ammunition from us… We wanted him to stay on…His continuance would have fully discredited the BJP and given a major boost to us and our campaign in the state," a senior Congress functionary said.

The Congress managers are apprehending that the BJP would now seek to take a moral high ground on the corruption issue with the ouster of Yeddyurappa, whom the party had recently dubbed as the "Cauvery of corruption".

This has forced them to come up with a fresh strategy. The BJP is likely to up its ante against the Congress and the Manmohan Singh government on the issue of corruption, particularly after former telecom minister A Raja's statements in the court of law.

The Congress has now decided to target the central leadership of the BJP besides demanding the scalps of Reddy brothers on the mining issue.