In In July 2021, several observers as well as opponents of BS Yeddyurappa were busy writing his political obituary after he was asked by top BJP leaders to step down as Karnataka Chief Minister and make way for a ‘smaller’ leader. Was said.
Cut to August 2022, and Yediyurappa managed to find a place in the top decision-making body of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
So what does it mean for Yeddyurappa to be included for him, Karnataka and BJP? ThePrint will decode these questions in this week’s Newsmaker.
Right time for BSY
The induction of the former chief minister into the BJP parliamentary board comes at a time when he is upset over being sidelined in the party. Earlier he was removed from the post of CM. Then the BJP high command had refused to give a ticket to the Legislative Council to his younger son.
Development also becomes important because the Karnataka government and the BJP are on the verge of an explosion. In removing Yeddyurappa, forced to resign as CM on 26 July 2021, and installing BS Bommai, another Lingayat, a community that is numerically, economically and politically strong, the BJP had hoped that its support base will remain intact, something of which the party is no longer sure, internal surveys indicate otherwise.
Recent episodes fuel the speculations of Bommai being removed had gained credibility after an alleged Audio A clip of Minister of State JC Madhuswamy surfaced in which he can be heard purportedly calling the Karnataka government “non-functional”.
The Bommai government had also received criticism from BJP workers after the killing of Bajrang Dal member Harsh Jingde on February 20 in Shivamogga and Praveen Netaru, a member of BJP’s Yuva Morcha in Dakshina Kannada district, on July 26. State BJP President Nalin Kateel and Minister of State Sunil Kumar Karkala were harassed during their visit to Nettaru’s house.
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Significance of Yediyurappa
The BJP has also been forced to pacify Yediyurappa, a past experience when his rebellion damaged the party in the 2013 assembly elections. The veteran leader had formed his own party – Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) – around which 10 Percentage vote share got eaten up in BJP’s vote bank.
The election clearly ended with a repeat – Yeddyurappa was indispensable to the BJP as he took over the Lingayats.
The BSY, as it is popularly known, belongs to the Lingayat community, which comprises 16 per cent of Karnataka’s population and is known to influence 100 of its 224 assembly seats. Yediyurappa is credited with helping the BJP build a base in Karnataka, the only state in the south where the party has been in power.
Rise of BJP In Karnataka it is inextricably linked with Yeddyurappa. He was appointed chief minister in 2007, three years after the assembly elections in which the BJP emerged as the single largest party, as part of an agreement with the Janata Dal (Secular) on the sharing of the CM post. However, soon after the appointment of BSY, the JD(S) withdrew support and the government fell.
In 2008, he returned to power, helping the BJP form its first government in Karnataka with the help of independent candidates. After ruling as CM for almost 39 months, Yediyurappa’s name came up in an investigation by the Lokayukta of Karnataka and he was ordered to resign by the BJP Parliamentary Board in 2011.
Yediyurappa, however, fell out of favor with the BJP leadership, including issues he viewed as unilateral workThe party had also taken cognizance of these allegations. Corruption against him. And yet, BSY has not only survived in the BJP, but has gone ahead to consolidate its position further.
On Wednesday, soon after his appointment to the parliamentary board, he pledged to bring the BJP back to power in Karnataka and consolidate it in the rest of South India.
BSY’s return to the game soon became apparent as Karnataka leaders lined up to congratulate him. Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh also met him on Wednesday.
“I am the best example to prove that BJP will not spare its active ordinary worker. I do not believe that politics and public life are retirement domains and our leaders have attested to this. I will work for party and organization till my last breath: Yeddyurappa Told from reporters.
(edited by Prashant)