Veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa is definitely out of power and electoral politics, but his clout over party affairs in Karnataka has not diminished as its central leadership seems to be once again determined to deliver results in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Trusting the experienced warrior.
Be it selecting candidates or silencing dissent in several constituencies, the 81-year-old Central Election Committee member of the party is considered the “man of the season”. The stakes are really high for the BJP Parliamentary Board member as he has to ensure that his son BY Vijayendra strengthens his position as the party’s state president and silences critics who have shrugged off the claims of the experienced hand. Questions have been raised on his selection for this post.
The octogenarian actor, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, is being sought by central BJP leaders along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make him a key election mascot in the state.
The reasons why Yediyurappa has been pushed to the top of the party’s election agenda are not far to seek.
The four-time chief minister, who built the party from the grassroots, has a wide appeal and connect – especially among the politically influential Lingayat community – that no other party leader in the state has.
It is now quite clear from the BJP’s plan that the party is keen to take advantage of the “Yediyurappa Factor” and make him the “poster boy” to reap huge electoral benefits.
The Prime Minister himself had praised Yediyurappa during his public meeting in his home district Shivamogga earlier this month.
“Shivamogga is a special land – when no one knew about us during the Jana Sangh days, when we had no members even at the municipal level – Yediyurappa ji spent his life here at such a time. This is his ‘Tapobhoomi’,” Modi had said.
According to some political observers and BJP insiders, the party had sought to sideline Yediyurappa in the assembly elections in May last year.
The BJP was ousted from power by the Congress and could win only 66 seats in the 224-member assembly.
The issue of corruption, consolidation of minority votes behind the Congress and a section of Lingayats moving away from the BJP were considered to be among the major factors in its defeat.
Vijayendra was appointed the state unit president in November last year, with the party once again reposing confidence in Yediyurappa.
Yediyurappa’s imprint is clearly visible in the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, as he gave tickets to his elder son BY Raghavendra in Shimoga, and Shobha Karandlaje in Bengaluru North, along with Gayatri Siddheshwar, wife of former MP GM Siddheshwar, in Davanagere. Gave tickets to many loyalists. CM Basavaraj Bommai in Haveri and Govind M Karjol in Chitradurga.
He is also said to have been instrumental in choosing Yaduveer Krishnadutt Chamaraja Wadiyar, a scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, for the Mysore seat over MP Pratap Simha.
However, Yediyurappa also had to face the resentment of many contenders who did not get tickets.
Many senior leaders like JC Madhuswamy from Tumakuru, former MLAs MP Renukacharya and SA Ravindranath from Chitradurga, MP Karadi Sanganna from Koppal and some party leaders from Belagavi openly expressed their anger against him for not supporting his candidature. did.
The party also faced discontent in constituencies like Bidar and Chitradurga. Veteran party leader KS Eshwarappa has rebelled and announced that he will contest as an independent from Shivamogga, where Raghavendra is the candidate. He has held Yediyurappa responsible for his son K E Kantesh not getting a ticket from neighboring Haveri.
Yediyurappa has reached out to dissident leaders and is personally meeting some of them.
According to a party functionary, “The Yediyurappa factor has largely been beneficial to the BJP, but at times it has also had adverse effects. It is like a double-edged sword. His clout within the party and among voters, especially Lingayats, and There is an appeal.” Cannot be denied.
At the same time, it has also led to conflict and rift within the party amid allegations of nepotism and favouritism.” ”The Yediyurappa factor obviously means strong leadership and mass appeal, but too much reliance on it, Focusing on Lingayat votes has to some extent limited the party from expanding its social base among other communities like the Vokkaligas,” he said. “The party has seen its negative impact electorally, as it has never been a leader in the state. He said that with the support of other leaders like Yediyurappa Eshwarappa and late HN Ananth Kumar, he is undisputedly the “main leader” of the BJP in Karnataka.
