Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who was effectively sidelined in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after he resigned from the post in 2022, has made a comeback, yet again, with the party high command choosing his son B.Y. Vijayendra to head the party in Karnataka.
With this, Mr. Yediyurappa has scored a victory in the factional fight within the party, a senior party leader said. B.L. Santosh, national general secretary (organisation), BJP, was seen as Mr. Yediyurappa’s bete noire, attempting to bring the party out of the shadows of Mr. Yediyurappa and from heavy reliance on Veerashaiva-Lingayats.
Winnability tilts balance
The high command’s choice shows that ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, winnability in elections seems to be the only focus of the party, a senior party leader said.
“Several leaders, including those in the high command, sidelined Mr. Yediyurappa offering several arguments, including that the party has to move beyond him due to his age and to make the party a more ideologically-driven unit. But they failed to deliver in the elections. This forced the high command to go back to Mr. Yediyurappa, a time-tested leader of the party in the State,” said a close associate of the former Chief Minister.
When Mr. Yediyurappa was made to resign in 2011 and he exited the party, BJP was reduced to 40 seats in 2013 Assembly polls. He again brought the party to power, though by poaching Opposition MLAs through ‘Operation Kamala’ (engineered defections) in 2019. But he was again made to resign in 2022 and the party’s tally came down to 66 in 2023 Assembly polls.
Veerashaiva-Lingayats, who have formed the core support base of the party in Karnataka for nearly two decades now, had reportedly splintered in the 2023 Assembly polls, as the Congress wooed them after Mr. Yediyurappa’s teary-eyed resignation. The BJP’s recent alliance with Janata Dal (Secular), seen as a Vokkaliga party, was also feared to alienate the community further. Mr. Yediyurappa, sources said, had placed these arguments before the high command to lobby for his son to be chosen as party chief.
An exception to rules
Mr. Yediyurappa, one of the few mass leaders from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-L.K. Advani era of the party to stay relevant in the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah era, has been an exception to many rules by the party.
Breaking the 75-year limit to hold public office in the party, Mr. Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister of Karnataka at the age of 76 in 2019 and remained so till he was well into his 79th year.
The party high command seems to have again made an exception, abandoned the “dynasty politics” plank that it hurls against most Opposition parties in the country, and chosen his son as the party chief.
