KARNATAKA: YEDI, STEADY...
Two years after he engineered the BJP’s return to power in Karnataka, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa (BSY), 78, may be on his way out. The mounting criticism of his style of functioning, his advancing age, allegations of son B.Y. Vijayendra’s high-handedness in government have all contributed to his imminent downfall. However, the party’s resolve to fight the next assembly poll (due in 2023) under a more youthful leadership has also played its part in BSY’s fate. Yediyurappa will still be—or so the BJP will hope—a star campaigner for he is the undisputed leader of the Lingayats, the largest community in Karnataka and a trusted BJP vote bank.
There are strong indications that BSY will tender his resignation on or after July 26, the day he completes two years in office. The chief minister has convened a legislature party meeting on July 26 (there is no official order yet) and has invited all party legislators for dinner on Sunday night at his residence. A top BJP source says the “unexpected development” came after Yediyurappa’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president J.P. Nadda last week in New Delhi. The term of the current Karnataka assembly ends in May 2023 and, apparently, BSY tried hard to retain his chair. “But it was made clear to him that he had to step down. He apparently chose an honourable exit on his own terms, most of which were agreed to,” says the source.
Yediyurappa has been the rock on which the BJP has built its citadel in Karnataka. He served as CM on four different occasions, two of which did not last more than a week (he failed to muster the required majority). As the
foremost leader of the Lingayats, it will not be easy to replace him. The community is yet to find a suitable alternative, all the more reason for the Lingayat community seers to be upset. The All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha too has opposed the decision.
Sources say the BJP central leadership has requested Yediyurappa to ensure a smooth handover. In return for his acquiescence, BSY has demanded a casting vote in the choice of candidates besides accommodating in the new government son Vijayendra (already a vicepresident in the Karnataka BJP). “BSY, in turn, has been asked to lend complete support to his successor and ensure the Lingayat community stays with the BJP,” says the source.
Political observers point out that BSY was under immense pressure over the past 7-8 months. “BJP and RSS leaders were unhappy with him for accommodating the opposition turncoats in the Cabinet. The bad press Yediyurappa got over his government’s shoddy handling of the pandemic was the last straw,” says political historian Prof. B. Manjunath.
There are several contenders for the CM’s post with Union minister Prahlad Joshi (Brahmin) reportedly heading the list. Other names include assembly speaker V. Hegde Kageri (Brahmin), MLA Aravind Bellad (Lingayat youth leader), deputy CM C.N. Ashwath Narayan (from Karnataka’s secondlargest community, the Vokkaligas), mines and geology minister Murugesh Nirani (Lingayat), home minister Basavaraja Bommai (Lingayat) and BJP spokesperson C.T. Ravi (Vokkaliga). Food and civil supplies minister Umesh Katti (Lingayat) has also thrown his hat in the ring. Meanwhile, lending further credence to BSY’s imminent ouster story is a voice clip gone viral that features an alleged conversation between state BJP chief Nalin K. Kateel and another party leader.
Any change at the top could have a cascading effect on the council of ministers, which is now dominated by legislators who quit the Congress and the JD(S) to help the BJP form a government in Karnataka. Ever since these turncoats were given plum portfolios, the BJP veterans have been seething. If Yediyurappa is replaced, and there is a cabinet reshuffle, it could cause a major flutter among the ministers.
A change at the top will have a cascading effect on the cabinet, dominated by MLAs who quit the Congress and JD(S) to help the BJP form a government