Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister, B.S. Yediyurappa submitted his resignation to Governor Thawarchand Gehlot on Monday after tweeting that it was an honour for him to have served the state for two years.
In a tweet in Kannada, he said that he has submitted his resignation to the governor and the latter has asked him to continue as Interim chief minister until his successor is announced.
"I have decided to resign as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. I am humbled and sincerely thank the people of the state for giving me the opportunity to serve them. I am grateful to PM Narendra Modi and BJP national president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their support," he tweeted.
Soon after his speech at a function celebrating his two-year anniversary where he announced his decision, Yediyurapa along with his cabinet colleagues went to Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation.
Yediyurapa also said that he will not be suggesting any names for the coveted post minutes after he stepped down as the Karnataka Chief Minister on Monday. However, sources said that Yediyurappa will spare no effort to install a candidate from his camp to the position.
"I will not suggest any names. It is the prerogative of the BJP party high command to choose the new chief minister," he added.
After submitting his resignation to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, he also said that he will extend full cooperation for the candidate chosen by the party. "The party is capable of choosing the right candidate", he added.
Yediyurapa had sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on May 17, 2018 after toppling the Congress-Janata Dal (S) government.
Residents of Shikaripura, outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa's home constituency, shut down all shops and commercial establishments on Monday as a mark of protest.
Prior to beginning of his political career, he was drafted by the Karnataka RSS pracharak in Shikaripura, where he got married and settled. Yediyurappa began his electoral politics by getting elected to the Shikaripura City Council and then became its president. After his successful stint in City Council politics, he was elected from the Shikaripura Assembly constituency in 1983 and went on to win eight times from the same seat.
Though he was a member of the RSS from the beginning, he never tried to position himself as a hardliner; instead he carefully elevated himself as a farmers' leader in the state.
Reacting to the resignation of B.S. Yediyurappa from the Karnataka Chief Minister's post, Dingaleshwara, the seer of the Lingayat Mutt in Balehosuru, told the BJP leadership on Monday that religious seers have taken the leadership change in the state as a challenge.
"Despite our appeals and warnings, the party has asked Yediyurappa to step down from the CM's post. Yediyurappa was made to cry. We, the religious seers, have taken it as a challenge," Dingaleshwara said.
The tears shed by Yediyurappa were not only his, as the entire state cried with him, he added.
"The BJP will disappear in his tears in the state. There will be irreparable damage to the party to the extent that no one will be able to rebuild the party in the state," the seer said.
"It is just not our community leader who cried, as the BJP has compelled our entire community to come to tears. Today it won't be a celebration of two years in power for the party. The party is going to pay for it," he added.
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