Bangalore, Feb 21: The power struggle within the ruling BJP in Karnataka intensified with sulking former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today taking a dig at his successor D V Sadananda Gowda, saying luck propelled him to the post.
“It is true that Sadananda Gowda rose to the Chief Minister's post by virtue of his luck. Even former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy too became the Chief Minister by his luck. I have no role in making Sadananda Gowda as Chief Minister,” Yeddyurappa told reporters here.
Yeddyurappa's open remarks against Gowda, once considered his loyalist, come amidst his efforts to get a position for himself—chief ministership or state BJP presidentship.
The former Chief Minister, whose uninhibited lobbying has met with cold response from the central leadership in view of the spate of corruption cases faced by him, claimed all the 122 BJP MLAs were his supporters, in an obvious reference to Gowda's statement last week that the party would not tolerate attempts by anyone to resort to show of strength.
Yeddyurappa, also a prominent Lingayat community leader, accused some of his own partymen of attempts to create a divide between the members of his community and warned they would not succeed.
The senior leader said he and his supporters would meet here on February 23, a day before the party's two-day ‘Chintan-Manthan', a brain storming session to be addressed by BJP President Nitin Gadkari.
“I will explain the party affairs to Gadkari,” said Yeddyurappa, who was forced to quit as Chief Minister by party top leadership over the issue of his indictment in the illegal mining report by the Lokayukta.
Yeddyurappa had planned a visit Delhi yesterday to continue his lobbying after offering worship at Varanasi, but returned to the city.
