The Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka has a dilemma. To make do with senior leader BS Yediyurappa or do away with him?
Recently Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced a “cabinet decision” to name the upcoming Shivamogga airport after BS Yediyurappa. Two days after the CM’s press briefing, Yediyurappa scored a political brownie point when he announced on Twitter that he would want the government to reconsider the matter.
In a letter addressed to CM Bommai, he wrote, “I would appeal to you to reconsider your decision, discuss in appropriate forums, and name the new airport on great people who have contributed to the development of the state, country and history.” The letter, written in Kannada, was also tweeted out.
While this episode was positioned as an innocuous exchange of words between the two saffron leaders, what got swept under the carpet was the BJP’s indecisiveness over assigning a prominent role to Yediyurappa, known as the tallest leader of the party in the southern state. Yediyurappa is known to have built the BJP from scratch in Karnataka – the state which is now known as a Hindutva laboratory.
Is Yediyurappa, who has not been assigned any official position of importance in the party, still indispensable to the BJP? A look at the leader’s tour plan, ahead of elections, reveals what Yediyurappa means to the BJP now. He is a leader who may not become the face of the party, in the upcoming election. However, for the BJP, Yediyurappa is still an asset.
What Is Yediyurappa’s Itinerary So Far?
Yediyurappa never completed a term, the four times he became the chief minister of Karnataka. Each time, he was either ousted or was given no choice but to resign. The last time he resigned, as recently as in July 2021, Yediyurappa promised to work for the BJP’s victory in 2023 Legislative Assembly election. He said, “I will work hard to bring the BJP back to power in the next election.”
However, as per the BJP, BS Yediyurappa will only be a part of the party’s three-phase tour across Karnataka, one year ahead of the Assembly elections. He will not be leading any part of the tour.
While the agenda of the tour is to strengthen the party at the grassroots and interact with cadres, CM Bommai is expected to head one team, the other two teams are to be headed by BJP State President Nalin Kumar Kateel and BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh.
What is Yediyurappa left with? He will be part of Arun Singh’s team and tour the belts where the Lingayat population is substantial. An attempt to reduce him to a Lingayat leader, even as he is not bound to be the face of the party in the state anymore? Yediyurappa is a Banajiga Lingayat – a small yet powerful sub-caste.
BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi told The Quint, “Yediyurappa was responsible for the growth of the BJP in Karnataka…BJP as a party was responsible for Yediyurappa’s growth as a leader, and vice versa. Similarly, BJP has ensured the growth of PM (Narendra) Modi and Modi has ensured the party grows as well. There is nothing new about it. Leaders and party are mutually dependent.”
Was the naming of Shivamogga airport not an effort to pacify Yediyurappa? “And the decision to name the airport after him was the government’s decision.” The airport is expected to be in the shape of a lotus, the official symbol of the BJP.
Meanwhile, the Congress called it "tokenism." Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad told The Quint, “They (BJP) wanted to make up for the unceremonious exit that the former chief minister had to endure last year. If they really wanted to show their respect, then why was BS Yediyurappa asked to step down? He was also not allowed to travel across the state after his resignation.”
While Ravi did compare Yediyurappa to Modi, Congress’ observation that the airport episode was not born out of respect, does hold water.
The fact is, BJP needs Yediyurappa to win the Lingayats – traditional voters of party – who are now showing spurts of disaffection. But beyond that, going by the pre-election tour plan, the party does not hope to push him to prominence.
Is the BJP wary of Yediyurappa? Did Yediyurappa too consider the BJP naming gesture tokenism?
BSY’s Legacy That Has Become a Thorn in the Flesh for BJP
The events that have transpired over the past few months, suggest that the BJP did sideline Yediyurappa.
Given that Yediyurappa, who is popularly known as BSY, has always had the support of Lingayats, who form about 17 percent of Karnataka’s population, it has been obvious that he should be allowed to work for the BJP in the 2023 election.
Yediyurappa, is also known to be a leader who tried caste-engineering in Karnataka, instead of latching on to communal polarisation.
“He was a leader of everyone to an extent, and he mostly steered clear of rabid communal polarisation. He worked with different caste groups, including the Lingayats, to get their support for the BJP,” said Naheed Ataulla, a senior journalist who has been covering the BJP in Karnataka.
However, when BSY proposed to tour the state in August 2021, purportedly to strengthen cadre at the grassroots, the party’s Central leadership refused to grant him permission. He waited for almost a month to get a lukewarm response from the party, even as it was widely believed that his tour plan was an exercise to show strength after stepping down as CM. Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, however, issued a clarification stating he did support Yediyurappa's tour plan.
But most importantly, Yediyurappa’s political heirs, his sons BY Vijayendra and BY Raghavendra, too were kept at an arm’s distance.
Vijayendra, who is BJP state vice president, was not at first given charge of leading the party in Sindgi-Hangal by-election. Though he was made in-charge of Hangal constituency after a section of BJP cadre expressed their chagrin, Vijayendra continued to remain in the shadows. Raghavendra, meanwhile, remained just an MP of the party.
Why this treatment? Yediyurappa has been capable of either steering the party to suit his ends, or leaving it in the lurch.
From land scam to mining scam, Yediyurappa was slapped with many a graft charges, all levelled while he was holding power positions, including that of Chief Minister, in the BJP. In 2012, he quit the BJP to form Karnataka Janata Party. The party posed a threat to the then BJP government led by Jagadish Shettar, by pulling BJP MLAs and Yediyurappa loyalists – including current Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje – to its side.
Strangely, Karnataka Congress Party Spokesperson Kimmane Ratnakar predicted in 2021 that Yediyurappa will once again quit BJP to rebuilt KJP. Is that last card still up BSY’s sleeve?
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