Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa is reportedly seeing a fresh opportunity to push for his son B.Y. Vijayendra to be anointed the BJP chief in Karnataka, with the party going for a pre-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular). Mr. Yediyurappa, who was in New Delhi last week to attend a Parliamentary board meeting, which he is a member of, is reportedly pitching hard for his son’s elevation to the post.
Earlier, Mr. Yediyurappa had pitched for former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to be elected Leader of the Opposition and a non-Lingayat for the post of party president. However, the proposed alliance with the JD(S) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections has “disrupted the caste calculations”, sources in the party said.
From the top
“Mr. Yediyurappa has always been opposed to any alliance with the regional party. However, the alliance under way now seems to have been a decision of national leadership and the former Chief Minister was not in the loop. Though he was unhappy with it initially, he seems to have fallen in line with the party’s decision. More importantly, he smells in this equation an opportunity to push for his son’s elevation to party president’s position,” a senior BJP leader close to him said.
The logic being offered by Mr. Yediyurappa is that an alliance with JD(S) - seen as a Vokkaliga party - will create a “sense of insecurity” in the Lingayat community, the mainstay of the BJP’s vote bank, that is already upset with his unceremonious removal from the post of Chief Minister. The alliance with the JD(S) is seen as the party’s move to further reduce its reliance on the Lingayat vote bank and an attempt to woo the Vokkaligas.
The two communities are traditional rivals for power in the State. While the JD(S) will act as a force multiplier to the BJP in Old Mysore region, where it is strong, it will be of little help in North Karnataka, where wooing the Lingayat community is key to the success of BJP, Mr. Yediyurappa has pointed out, sources said. The BJP has lost vote share in both Kalyana Karnataka and Kittur Karnataka regions in North Karnataka. In this context, anointing a Lingayat as party president will be a good damage control exercise, he is learnt to have argued.
‘Far too junior’
However, there is intense opposition to the idea of Mr. Vijayendra’s leadership from within the party fold, it is learnt. “Mr. Vijayendra is far junior to many leaders in the party, and won a narrow victory in a safe seat for the first time. More than anything else, making him the party president will compromise our plank against dynastic politics. His leadership won’t go down well with other leaders in the State unit,” said a senior BJP leader.
Other names being speculated for the party president’s post include Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, former BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi, and former Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar. Ms. Karandlaje has emerged as one of the frontrunners for the post, according to sources. Meanwhile, if the high command chooses to make a Lingayat the party president, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal is the other name doing the rounds apart from Mr. Vijayendra.
