After witnessing the anticlimax to the much anticipated denouement to a long – drawn - out drama of B. S. Yeddyurappa, the people of Karnataka are left wondering as to what really Yeddyurappa wanted. At the end of a hectic three days of political activity in Yeddyurappa's camp, following Supreme Court’s order to CBI to investigate Yeddyurappa in the alleged mining scam, what began as a bang ended with a whimper.

The whole of Karnataka, as also the BJP High Command, was eagerly awaiting Yeddyurappa’s Monday evening (originally scheduled at 4 pm) press meet to announce his resignation to the Assembly as an MLA and also to the party, along with some Ministers and other MLAs.

But he did not resign….

In the first place, there was confusion about the very reason why he wanted to resign. According to one report, he wanted to know whether he is "needed by the party." Apparently, the party turned a deaf - ear to this demand. According to other reports, his demand included removal of the incumbent Chief Minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda. However, he did not tell the High Command whom he wanted in Gowda’s place, unless it was he himself — a demand he has been making ever since he came out of the jail on the ground that it was a "promise" and "assurance" by the High Command when he was asked to step down "temporarily."

Of course, the BJP High Command was unfair and did injustice to Yeddyurappa when it, in a false sense of righteousness and misplaced sense of practicing value-based politics, asked Yeddyurappa to step down on the silly and untenable ground that his name figured in Justice Santosh Hegde's much discussed, debated and doubted for its fairness, Lokayukta Report. With this, the BJP High Command had taken Yeddyurappa actually for a jolly good ride — remember L. K. Advani, for whom Justice Hegde claimed to have great regard and at whose instance had even withdrawn his resignation as Lokayukta. Advani had specially come to Bangalore, so also Ananth Kumar, the BJP MP and All India General Secretary, to meet Justice Hegde. No wonder in yesterday's press meet Yeddyurappa openly told that these two persons along with the State BJP President K. S. Eshwarappa, were the cause for his losing Chief Ministership and other problems related to mining and land denotification.

The High Command, however, had remained as stubborn as it was in the matter of Yeddyurappa's demands till last evening’s press meet. Then what was it that suddenly made Yeddyurappa to make a volte - face in a surprise move? In fact in his press meet there was lot of prevarication of the “to be or not to be” kind of mental condition similar to the one Hamlet the Prince of Denmark suffered.

The explanation given by Yeddyurappa for his not quitting the party was rather esoteric: He said, "Following requests from religious heads, the party’s Central leaders and elders, I have kept the decision in abeyance. Now I will make the decision on my political future after getting the feedback from the people during a tour of all districts." This is not the quality of a leader who would lead from the front and dare to take risk. Yesterday, by his surrendering to the same “promises” by his BJP High Command, as before, he and his followers presented an unedifying spectacle to the people of Karnataka and even India who saw them on State and National TV channels. To that extent, the political as also the leadership credibility of B. S. Yeddyurappa has considerably eroded. This does not augur well for him, nor to his followers politically.

Add to this another unwise and politically incorrect, even preposterous move Yeddyurappa made in sending his confidante Shobha Karandlaje to meet Sonia Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel. Was this move to blackmail the BJP High Command? If it was, there could be nothing more burlesque, absurd, reckless and foolish a political move than this. It was almost like an irate or inebriated husband who had a fight with his wife rushing to the neighbour's house seeking support. It would only further infuriate his wife and make him suspect in her eyes!

If at all Yeddyurappa had a plan in place to form a Regional Party, as it was rumoured, after quitting BJP, he should have approached other political parties only at the appropriate time, read election time, for alliance and not right away, even before quitting the party. By doing this he would not only be closing his future options for alliance but also losing his bargaining power in sharing of seats. And another more serious issue is that now on, BJP High Command would always look at Yeddyurappa and his moves with greater suspicion.

And finally let me recall here what the Roman General Pompey said on losing to his political and military rival Julius Caesar: Alas! Men worship sun rising, not sun setting.

Tailpiece:
A wag tells me that in this war of attrition between B. S. Yeddyurappa and the BJP High Command, the BJP High Command still has the advantage. However, Yeddyurappa, even if he remains in the BJP, for sure will not be the leader nor the Chief Minister. Come election, BJP High Command will make sure that tickets are evenly distributed among the top leaders of BJP in the State — K. S. Eshwarappa, D. V. Sadananda Gowda, Jagadish Shettar, R. Ashok and one or two others thus cutting Yeddyurappa's support base to size. And who knows Ananth Kumar will become the compromise Chief Minister!

Sadly, in such a scenario, Yeddyurappa cannot even be a mentor of the party. What next? Let us wait and watch.