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.
A teary-eyed BS Yediyurappa said he would submit his resignation to Governor Tawarchand Gehlot post-lunch. Even as his voice choked up, BS Yediyurappa said he wasn't bidding farewell in sadness but thanked Bharatiya Janata Party's leadership for the opportunity.
BS Yediyurappa said while announcing his resignation, "I have decided that I will resign from the post of Karnataka's Chief Minister. I am going but not out of sadness. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I appeal that all of us should work together to build the party."
"I am grateful to the party for giving me this opportunity even after (I turned) 75 years," he told reporters. Earlier, in his speech, he said: "When (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) was Prime Minister he asked me to be a minister at the Centre. But I said I will be in Karnataka."
The BJP had grown in Karnataka, he said, adding: "It has always been an agnipariksha (trial by fire) for me. These last two years it was Covid."
BS Yediyurappa tweets for the first time after resigning as Karnataka chief minister: "Deeply influenced by Jagajyoti Basavanna's philosophy of Kayaka, Dasoha Tattva & the life of Lingaikya Shri Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Mutt, I have dedicated my entire 50 years of public life towards nation building and fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Karnataka."
Also read: Punjab CM pays homage at Kargil War Memorial, exhorts youth to join armed forces
The resignation was widely anticipated but Mr Yediyurappa kept everyone guessing till yesterday. Even a minister claimed surprise. "It was a surprise for me. He told me that he may receive a favorable decision from the high command by July 26. But we all have to abide by the norms of the party," said K Sudhakar.