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BJP Karnataka strongman BS Yeddyurappa on Monday blamed Chief Minister Sadananada Gowda and party general secretary Ananth Kumar for the present political turmoil in the state, and claimed to have the support of 70 MLAs. Yeddyurappa also alleged that Members of the Legislative Assembly who are close to him are being targeted. He also announced that he had deferred taking a decision on resigning from the party and the Assembly. Yeddyurappa said that Sadananda Gowda is not a responsible Chief Minister. "I am not to blamed. Gowda and Ananth Kumar are responsible for the problems. Ananth Kumar wants to be the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Gowda is not a responsible Chief Minister. Gowda my be in power, but I have the support of 70 MLAs," Yeddyurappa told a press conference here. Wanting Chief Minister Gowda to step down from his post, Yeddyurappa said that his supporters have asked him not to leave the party. "There is no question of quitting the BJP. My supporters have urged me not to quit. I am not quitting the assembly," he said. Yeddyurappa, who holds the threat of resignation on his party's head, further said that he has not dropped his demands. He said that over 40 MLAs were ready to quit the Assembly in his support. "I have not dropped my demands, just postponed the decision. I have postponed the decision of resigning from the assembly," he said. Yeddyurappa was forced to quit from his post of state chief after the Lokayukta report indicted him in the illegal mining scam and also for his alleged role in irregularities in allotment of prime land to his own kith and kin. He has since then spent much of this year trying to flex political muscle to arm-twist his party leadership into reinstating him. His comeback plans, however, got a big jolt when the Supreme Court last week ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against him for nepotism, illegal land acquisition and favoring top mining companies. He had, however, then welcomed the probe, and expressed confidence that he would be exonerated of all the charges.

Defiant Yeddyurappa blames Gowda, Ananth Kumar for BJP Karnataka crisis