BS Yeddyurappa
BJP Karnataka Chief BS YeddyurappaIANS

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa will be the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) chief ministerial candidate in the Assembly polls scheduled to take place in 2018, party president Amit Shah said on Friday.

Shah told the Press Trust of India (PTI) that the Karnataka Assembly elections "will be fought under Yeddyurappa." Yeddyurappa is the chief of the Karnataka unit of the BJP. He also said that he would visit the state soon following action against leaders suspected of being responsible for internal wrangling.

Yeddyurappa, a Lingayat leader, had led the BJP to its first victory in Karnataka in 2008. However, he resigned after corruption charges were levelled against him. The 74-year-old leader launched his own political outfit in 2011. However, he returned to the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.

Shah also indicated that Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani could be the party's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming polls and that the BJP would win over 150 seats in the Gujarat Assembly elections scheduled to take place later this year. 

"He is already the chief minister. What does it mean that he will be the chief ministerial face...," Shah said when asked whether Rupani would be the party's CM candidate for the Gujarat polls, PTI reported.