Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa made it clear that his invitation to Koppal on Thursday for the inauguration of the BJP Bhavans, was a last-minute invitation. The central leadership had to intervene to quickly rush the Lingayat strongman to the programme in a chopper, so that he could share the stage with BJP national president JP Nadda.
On Wednesday, his house was the scene of hectic parleys after there were reports that he was miffed about not being invited to Koppal. A rattled state unit rushed leaders to his house, who asked him to take part in a smaller programme at Gadag but the mass leader rejected the proposal.
Finally, it was the central leadership that pacified Yediyurappa, who was then officially invited to Koppal. A chopper was quickly booked so that he reached the venue on time but before boarding, he did not hold back and made it clear that he was invited at the last minute and was only going since the situation was such.
Yediyurappa also sent a veiled threat to the party leadership when asked if he was being sidelined. “Nobody can finish anybody. I have my own strength, I have brought the party to power with a lot of effort. Will continue to do that with everyone’s cooperation,” he said.
He has been upset with the party leadership since much before this episode. Recent developments have made BSY’s camp believe that he is being ignored. It also believes that the party’s national general secretary BL Santhosh was trying to deny Yediyurappa his rightful place.
His son Vijayendra not getting the green light to contest in the 2023 assembly elections as well as ambiguity over where he will contest from, are two sticking points that have irked Yediyurappa. Earlier this year, the leader had unilaterally declared Vijayendra as the successor from Shikarpura constituency, but the party has not yet committed to this.
A dissent has been brewing for weeks now as Yediyurappa skipped the ‘Jan Sankalp Yatra’ in Kunigal and Kortagere. He and chief minister Basavaraj Bommai were to lead the yatra together.
Earlier this month, Yediyurappa and Bommai returned separately from Gujarat after the swearing-in ceremony of Bhupendra Patel. While BSY arrived in a commercial airline, Bommai flew back in a special flight around the same time.
But the BJP is claiming that all is well. “It is false. He is our tallest leader. All party work is being taken care of by him and all future crucial works will be taking place under his leadership. He has come here and will be taking part in the programme. Our’s is a son and father relationship, this matter doesn’t even arise. This is all speculation and I deny it,” said Bommai.
The opposition Congress, however, has tried to cash in on the controversy saying there was a massive rift within the state BJP that might soon explode. “There’s no high command as it doesn’t have control. You know the statements by the political secretary of the CM and those made by newcomers and old-timers. There is a big rift within the state unit…” said Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar.
Yediyurappa will be key to the BJP’s plan of retaining power in Karnataka but a disgruntled version of him will not help the party’s electoral prospects. This is a fact that has been proven before when the leader had walked out of the saffron party and formed Karnataka Janata Paksha. He contested the 2013 assembly polls and his newly formed party had managed to get over 9 percent of the votes polled and reduced the BJP to just 40 seats.
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