Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, on Thursday, met with veteran BJP leader and former CM BS Yediyurappa at the latter’s residence in Dollars Colony in Bengaluru. This was the first meeting of Shivakumar with the Lingayat strongman since Congress registered a historic victory in the Karnataka assembly elections on May 13.
Both Shivakumar (61) and Yediyurappa (80) are credited with expanding the Congress and the BJP respectively in Karnataka. While Yediyurappa made parts of Karnataka a stronghold for the BJP long before 2007 when the first of his four CM terms began, Shivakumar brought the Congress party back to power in 2023. In the 2023 assembly elections, Shivakumar asserted his dominance as a strongman thanks to his victory in the Kanakpura constituency with a margin of over one lakh votes. On the other hand, Yediyurappa did not contest the election but his influence in the Shikaripura constituency was visible since his son BY Vijayendra won by a margin of over 81,000 votes.
Outside of the political front, both Shivakumar and Yediyurappa have maintained cordial relations with each other. This is not the first time Shivakumar paid a visit to Yediyurappa as he met the latter in January 2022 to express condolences to the BJP veteran on the demise of his granddaughter. Besides, Shivakumar has also alleged in the past that the former CM was being harassed by BJP members. He even claimed that “tears of BSY have flown on the streets of Karnataka. BSY is under huge pressure from his own party and agencies.”
Yediyurappa, on the other hand, is hopeful about the BJP’s return in Karnataka. “We will introspect the party’s setback,” he said after the results were announced. Experts believe that his inactivity in campaigning for the BJP due to old age cost the saffron party its government in the southern state.
