Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa announces resignation

BS Yediyurappa on Monday announced he will step down as the Karnataka chief minister and said he will meet the governor after lunch and hand over his resignation.

Yediyurappa was speaking at a programme that marked the celebration of two years of the BJP government in the state. "I have decided to resign," a news agency quoted the Karnataka chief minister as saying. "I will meet the Governor after lunch."

Karnataka was rife with rumours earlier regarding the resignation of four-time chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who held a strong support base from the Lingayat community. The 77-year-old has already been dropping enough hints that he was on his way out, though the politicians whose names are being speculated to take his stead have dismissed any such possibility and attributed such speculations to mere political rumours.

Last week, Yediyurappa visited New Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, strengthening the speculation. After returning from New Delhi, Yediyurappa himself hinted at his exit and said he will work according to the instruction of the national leadership of the party which, as he said, he was supposed to receive on July 25, a day ahead of the two-year completion of the BJP government in Karnataka.