Party felt keeping the government in place would dent its image and decided on the timing of Yeddyurappa’s resignation.

The decision that Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa must quit in a flurry of hurt sentiments on the floor of the Assembly was taken by the BJP leadership on Friday evening, after all permutations and combinations to cobble together a majority failed and the Supreme Court reduced the time given for the floor test from 15 days to one.

Top sources told The Hindu that while the BJP had been exploring possibilities of government formation, the nature of the mandate had made it impossible.

Congress gambit

“From the get-go, the fact that the Congress could offer the chief ministerial position to H.D. Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal(S) sealed our fate. With 104 seats with us, we could not offer him that. There were only two Independents, both Congress rebels, who went back to the Congress. Other than appealing to a few Lingayat legislators in the Congress, there was nothing much we could do,” said a senior source involved in the issue.

All in 4 days May 16: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala invites BJP to form the government and asks B.S. Yeddyurappa to take oath as Chief Minister the next day. Congress moves Supreme Court late in the evening against the Governor's invitation to the BJP.

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala invites BJP to form the government and asks B.S. Yeddyurappa to take oath as Chief Minister the next day. Congress moves Supreme Court late in the evening against the Governor's invitation to the BJP. May 17: At 2.11 a.m. Court starts hearing Congress plea. At 5.28 a.m, SC refuses to stay the oath-taking ceremony of Yeddyurappa. At 9 a.m., Yeddyurappa sworn in as Chief Minister

At 2.11 a.m. Court starts hearing Congress plea. At 5.28 a.m, SC refuses to stay the oath-taking ceremony of Yeddyurappa. At 9 a.m., Yeddyurappa sworn in as Chief Minister May 18: Court orders floor test at 4 p.m. on May 19

Court orders floor test at 4 p.m. on May 19 May 19: At 10 a.m, BJP leadership tells Yeddyurappa that he will have to quit. The timing of the resignation, whether to go through with the floor test or quit after a speech upon introducing the confidence motion, is left to him. This was conveyed at a meeting of the BJP legislators held at Shangri-La hotel in Bengaluru. At 12 noon, another round of talks between the BJP's central leadership and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. Yeddyurappa's speech about his plans for the State and his concern for farmers was then drafted.

The Supreme Court’s immediate deadline for the floor test removed any doubt that the BJP would be able to cobble together the numbers. “The decision was taken at a meeting that Mr. Yeddyurappa would resign because the party’s image was getting dented as well,” said the source.

On Saturday morning, though Mr. Yeddyurappa told television channels that he was to take a few farmer-friendly decisions the following day, around 10 a.m., sources said he was finally told that he would have to quit.

The timing of the resignation, whether to go through the floor test or quit after a speech upon introducing the confidence motion was left to him. This was also conveyed at a meeting of BJP legislators held in a hotel in Bengaluru.

“When the situation seemed impossible, we had to ensure that our voters knew that we tried to respect their mandate, and we stood by Mr. Yeddyurappa, but that the cost of keeping a government in place was too high in terms of image,” the source said. Around noon, another round of talks was held between the BJP’s central leadership and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was in charge of the polls in the State. The sequence of events was decided. Mr. Yeddyurappa’s speech about his plans for the State and his concern for farmers was then drafted.

In all this, the “extraction” of Congress MLAs Anand Singh and Pratap Gouda Patil from a city hotel after Director-General of Police Neelamani Raju intervened, added to the point that the BJP did not have numbers on its side to win the confidence vote.

“The party will now begin its campaign for the 2019 elections and watch the new government in the State carefully,” said a senior office bearer of the party.