Karnataka: Why BJP is backing Yeddyurappa to tide over crises in Karnataka
Having learnt its lessons in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP top leadership is placing its bets on former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa.
With the Lok Sabha elections approaching, the BJP high command has dropped all plans to replace 70-year-old party leaders with young blood, at least in one state.
As the state BJP unit is beset with internal strife and infighting, state president BY Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition R Ashok, too are not getting much importance from the BJP’s top leadership. And, to keep Yeddiyurappa (BSY) – the tallest leader from the Lingayat community – in good spirits and to give him more responsibilities in this crucial election, the central leadership is only too willing to cold-shoulder his key political opponent in the party, BL Santosh, BJP’s national general secretary.
Back to veterans
As the BJP is singularly intent on notching up seats in Karnataka in the national polls, the 81-year-old BSY’s importance is growing within the party. The BJP, which had been strongly considering giving a boost to younger people in the party, seems to have put all those grand plans in cold storage and is moving in another entirely different direction in the southern state, just to win the LS elections.
Simultaneously, B L Santosh, who is speculated to be the main reason for Yediyurappa's exit from the CM’s post in 2021, is reportedly being sidelined and kept away from Karnataka politics. Due to this obvious power shift in the state BJP, on the eve of the upcoming Parliamentary elections, many aspirants from different Lok Sabha constituencies are flocking to BSY's door to get his blessings to secure tickets.
Even sitting MPs, secure enough to retain their seats, are also ensuring they are in BSY’s good books. Despite the BJP securing 25 out of 28 seats mainly on the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 elections, the party is not ready to take any risks by not listening to BSY in the 2024 LS elections.
Power shifts in Karnataka BJP
Until the 2023 Assembly elections in Karnataka, the central leadership ignored BSY, allegedly listening to BL Santosh's advice.
Leaders and political aspirants kowtowed to BL Santosh, keeping his offices in Bengaluru and Delhi busy. However, after BJP's defeat in Karnataka, the centre of power shifted again. Though the state BJP camp is divided into two factions, one led by BSY and the other by BL Santosh, the central leadership now clearly bestows all their attention on Yediyurappa.
The party leadership agreed to appoint his son BY Vijayendra and his loyalist R Ashok as the Opposition leader of the state Assembly, despite opposition from former national general secretary CT Ravi, MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, V Somanna, etc. Yatnal, who is said to belong to the BL Santosh camp, openly criticised the appointment of BSY's son as state president, but the central leadership ignored him.
Mass leader
According to a leader and former BJP minister, who prefers not to be named, BSY is always a popular mass and grassroots-level leader and no one in the party can replace him.
"BL Santosh is from RSS, and he may have a vision for the party, but he doesn't understand the very mood and pulse of the people to win or prepare for any elections. BSY knows every nook and corner of the state and is not only a Lingayat leader but also a mass leader of the party," he said.
"Sidelining BSY proved costly for the BJP in the state assembly elections. PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah tried hard to get votes in their names with several road shows and rallies, but BSY, who stood silent, limited the party’s numbers to 66 out of 224 assembly constituencies. The central leadership understood BSY's importance towards the end of the election but by then, it was too late," he pointed out.
A state BJP office-bearer revealed that the central leadership had listened to Santosh while fielding candidates. Veterans like KS Eshwarappa and others were not given seats and this decision went against the party.
"So, the central leaders have now decided to give importance to 81-year-old Yediyurappa. That's why the party is listening to him and even gave a chance to his son as state president, which is actually against the very concept of 'family politics' of the BJP. In the 2024 LS polls in Karnataka, the party is listening mostly to BSY while issuing tickets to aspirants," he said.
Yatnal and other anti-BSY leaders have been criticising BSY and his family politics (for bringing in his sons, Vijayendra as an MLA and BJP state president, and BY Raghavedra as an MP) saying that they cannot take on Congress on this plank for this reason. But the central leadership has turned a deaf ear to the opposing voices and BSY is now in a position where he selects the MP candidates.
Santosh, a 57-year-old engineer from Udupi, transitioned from working in various organisations, including the IITs, to becoming a full-time RSS pracharak in 1993.
Joining the BJP in 2006, he clashed with party state president Ananth Kumar over the issue of modernising strategies. As the power of BJP grew in Karnataka, BL Santosh rose in the ranks to become national general secretary.
His ambitions to emulate Narendra Modi's trajectory from party work to CM led to clashes with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. In 2019, BSY became the CM and Santosh took control of the state unit briefly. But, in the end, BSY ensured his own confidant, Basavaraj Bommai, succeeded him.
Persistent differences marked their relationship until the recent elections, when the BJP prioritised Lingayat-dominated seats and turned to BSY for support. BSY, who was initially moved to a Parliamentary board committee, did not actively respond, emphasising rivalries within the party.
The BJP, recognising the sway of Lingayat votes, has willingly pushed Santosh aside to appease BSY, to secure his backing and mend electoral losses in Lingayat-heavy regions.