In the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections slated for May next year, one of the key questions doing the rounds in state political circles is about the level of investment of veteran BJP leader and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa in the polls after having been forced to relinquish the CM’s post for Basavaraj Bommai last year.
Some recent developments in the BJP have reinforced the perception that the 79-year-old Lingayat stalwart Yediyurappa has continued to be upset with the state of affairs in the ruling party since he was ousted as the CM on account of the age factor.
Yediyurappa wields considerable influence over the Lingayat community, which is the largest caste group in Karnataka. The community, accounting for 17 per cent of the state’s population, is a crucial factor in nearly 80 of the 224 Assembly seats.
Over the week Yediyurappa declared his plan to skip the BJP’s major pre-election event, Vijay Sankalp Yatra, in the Koppal region involving the party’s national president J P Nadda, in what was widely seen as a sign of his “unhappiness” with the BJP at both the state and national levels.
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PremiumIt took much persuasion by senior BJP leaders – including the state party in-charge Arun Singh, a meeting between Bommai and Amit Shah in Delhi, and a separate meeting between Shah and Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra in Delhi on Wednesday – for Yediyurappa to finally head to Koppal on Thursday to attend the party’s event.
The signs of Yediyurappa’s resentment first emerged Tuesday when he announced that he would not attend the Vijay Sankalp Yatra event due to his prior commitments. His declaration was reportedly prompted by the party’s invite for the event downplaying his name.
“I have spoken to Yediyurappa. It was confirmed on December 12 that the BJP national president will be attending the event at Koppal. In this regard, I have met him. He has said he will not be participating in the Koppal event. The reason is that he has another programme already,” BJP general secretary N Ravikumar said Tuesday after being sent as an emissary to persuade Yediyurappa to attend the event.
“There is no intention to lower his dignity or standing in the party. The decision has been taken suddenly to have the programme at Koppal. He has conveyed that he is not upset,” Ravikumar claimed.
On Wednesday the BJP general secretary however offered a different explanation, saying that there were “some mistakes in the planning of the event” and that Yediyurappa agreed to attend the event. “He (Yediyurappa) will go on a special flight to Koppal. All the leaders will attend the event,” Ravikumar said.
On Thursday morning, Yediyurappa himself announced that he had changed his plan and would attend the BJP rally with Nadda. “Nadda is coming to Koppal and I will be attending the programme. Earlier I was not going to attend the event due to some reasons. Now there is a situation where it is imperative that I attend the event. So I am going. The CM will also be attending the event. We will participate together. There are no differences between us,” he said. “The party has not neglected me. There is no truth in the matter. I am attending all the party programmes.”
The ex-CM also said, “I decided against going there because it is not right to attend government events. There is no need for anyone to invite me to public programmes. I will do my duty. I was not invited to this event at the penultimate moment. I was not in a position to attend and so I said I would not be attending the event. I am going because Nadda is coming.”
Yediyurappa further said, “There is no truth in rumours that the BJP is attempting to finish me off. Nobody can finish anybody in politics. I have my own strength. I have built the party and will continue to do so.”
According to BJP sources, Yediyurappa’s initial decision to skip the Koppal rally was because of an “insignificant mention” of him in the party’s official invitation. “It was made to seem that he was just another leader,” sources said.
Seizing on the BSY-BJP rift, the Opposition Congress said it “proved” the existence of multiple factions in the state BJP and betrayed attempts at sidelining Yediyurappa in the saffron party.
“They are trying to make it a BSY-free BJP but it is not happening. They made him a member of the parliamentary board but he has not been satisfied. The BJP is a leaking house. Let them declare Bommai as the CM candidate,” Congress leader Priyank Kharge said.
CM Bommai, who was picked by Yediyurappa as his successor, has refuted allegations that the latter has been “neglected” by the BJP dispensation.
“He (BSY) is our supreme leader. All political planning will be done only after consultations with him. We have his blessings. He is participating in the event with Naddaji. We have a father-son relationship and there cannot be a question of differences between us and it is a matter of speculation. The Congress has no windows or doors,” Bommai said in Koppal Thursday.
On his part, Yediurappa said in Koppal Thursday: “I was not going to attend the event due to some special reasons. However, since the national president is attending the event there was an expectation that I should cancel all events and attend the programme. There is no meaning in the talk that I am being neglected.”
The former CM and his family members face a plethora of probes by central agencies in corruption cases. One of Yediyurappa’s key political objectives is to ensure that his younger son B Y Vijayendra is elected to the Karnataka Legislature.
Last week, Vijayendra announced that he was willing to contest the election from anywhere in Karnataka, including the Varuna seat in the Mysuru region against senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah. The announcement came even as BSY said a few months earlier that Vijayendra would contest the 2023 polls from the family borough of Shikaripura, which is currently represented by the former.
According to BJP sources, Yediyurappa is keen that the BJP commits to ensuring a “role” for Vijayendra ahead of the 2023 polls by indicating the constituency he would be allotted. Some BJP leaders however cite the example of states like Goa where ex-CM late Manohar Parrikar’s son was not given a ticket for contesting the election but was asked to wait for his turn as part of the party’s political posturing against dynastic politics.
