Bangalore, Oct 15 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party's dream of capturing power in the four southern states by making Karnataka its "gateway to south" is turning out to be a nightmare after its first chief minister in the state B.S. Yeddyurappa was sent to jail for corruption.

The 68-year-old Yeddyurappa quit July 31 after he was indicted by the Lokayukta (ombudsman).

Three other BJP ministers are also in jail for graft, the most famous of them is mining baron G. Janardhana Reddy who is behind bars in the Chanchalaguda Jail in Hyderabad for illegal mining in Andhra Pradesh.

The first of Yeddyurappa's ministerial colleagues to go to jail was Katta Subramanya Naidu. He was jailed on Aug 8 for taking Rs.85 crore kickback to grant 385 acres land to a software firm on the outskirts of Bangalore.

He was followed by Reddy on Sep 5.

On Saturday along with Yeddyurappa, former minister S.N. Krishnaiah Shetty was jailed for graft in illegal land denotification cases filed against them by two Bangalore advocates.