Yediyurappa and Kumaraswamy in Bangalore. (PTI)

Bangalore, Oct. 2: BJP ministers in Karnataka resigned en masse today after ruling ally Janata Dal (Secular) cited what sources said was a “loophole” to disown the power-share deal the partners had signed in February last year.

The move capped a bitter day for the BJP as it dawned on the party that it had sealed the pact with only a breakaway faction and the agreement did not have the “official” sanction of the JD (S).

Deputy chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the BJP’s nominee to take over the reins after the scheduled transfer of power tomorrow, handed the resignations to chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy late in the evening.

A covering letter by state BJP chief D.V. Sadanand Gowda said his party wanted Kumaraswamy to step down and hand over a letter to the governor pledging support to a BJP-led regime over the next 20 months.

Kumaraswamy accepted the letters, termed the resignations “childish, unwarranted and in haste” and said his party would decide on passing the baton when its parliamentary affairs committee meets in Delhi on Friday.

As their first taste of power down south turned sour, the BJP ministers left their official vehicles and drove off in their own cars.

BJP sources conceded the agreement was not endorsed by Kumaraswamy’s father, party chief H.D. Deve Gowda, till a few weeks after January 2006, when Kumaraswamy and some 40 JD (S) MLAs broke away from a Congress-led coalition to join hands with the BJP.

“At the time of signing this agreement, Kumaraswamy represented only the breakaway group of the JD (S). The agreement didn’t have the official seal of the JD (S). Now the father and son have come together and are exploiting this loophole to hold on to power,” said a BJP source who did not want to be named.

Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who has been camping in the city for the last three days to hammer out an agreement with Gowda, said his party ministers had done the right thing by submitting their resignations.

“We want this coalition arrangement to continue on the terms of what was agreed upon 20 months ago. We have reached the deadline today. And we have to act. It is up to the chief minister to take a decision,” he told reporters.

“The agreement is sacrosanct, sacred. The JD (S) should implement it,” he added.

In Delhi, BJP chief Rajnath Singh said he would discuss the issue with Gowda on October 5.

Late tonight, after a meeting of the JD (S) legislature party in Bangalore, Kumaraswamy said his party was “ready for any eventuality either to run the government or face polls”.

“There was no need for the BJP ministers to resign. I never refused to quit. They acted in haste,” the chief minister added.

“It is not in my mind to resign now,” Kumaraswamy said and declared he would try to save the government but refused to say how.