Yeddyurappa forwards resignation to Gadkari?

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is close to submitting his resignation, though unconfirmed reports have said that he has forwarded his resignation letter to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari.

A confirmation of this development is yet to surface.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier set a 12-hour deadline for incumbent Karnataka Chief Minister to resign, and sternly warned party lawmakers in the state to fall in line or face the sack.

Earlier in the day, Yedyurappa appeared to be standing his ground and decided not to attend a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board in New Delhi on Thursday, and instead, took an early morning flight from Delhi to Bangalore.

He chaired an emergency meeting of loyalist legislative assembly members in Bangalore, even as the central leadership of the party has asked him to resign from office immediately over his role in the illegal mining scam in Karnataka.

The BJP has already warned all party members in Karnataka to obey the party's orders and not attend the meeting called by Yeddyurappa. Reports have confirmed that 14 members of the legislative assembly are attending the meeting at the latter's official residence in Bangalore.

The party has issued a statement saying that any minister or party member who attends Yeddyurappa's meeting will be sacked. They have also asked Yeddyurappa to tone down his resistance.