New Delhi: B.Y. Vijayendra, political heir and son of former Karnataka chief minister and Lingayat strongman B.S.Yediyurappa, has won from Shikaripura assembly constituency — a seat that has been the bastion of the former chief minister Yediyurappa for nearly 40 years.
In his maiden election, Vijayendra, who is the state BJP vice-president, defeated independent candidate S. P. Nagaraj Gowda by over 10,000 votes. Vijayendra got 81,810 votes and Gowda got 70,802 votes.
Shikaripura is the sole assembly seat in the state that the BJP has won almost consistently since 1983, losing it only twice. The first time was in 1999, when a Congress candidate, B. N. Mahalingappa, defeated Yediyurappa. The second was in 2013, when the former CM, having broken away from the BJP, won the seat as a candidate of his own party, the Karnataka Janata Paksha.
Meanwhile, Yeddiyurappa’s younger son B.Y. Raghavendra — currently a BJP MP in Lok Sabha from the Shimoga (Shivamogga) constituency — also won the seat in 2014 as a BJP candidate in the bypoll.
This election, Yediyurappa kept out of the electoral race to make way for his other son, 49-year-old Vijayendra, and the BJP high command eventually yielded to the Lingayat’s strongman’s wishes.
When his name was announced as a candidate, Vijayendra had expressed his happiness at contesting from the seat, but had also said it was “unfair to say that he was given a ticket as he is B.S. Yediyurappa’s son”.
A political analyst from Karnataka told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that Vijayendra’s win was predictable given how the family had “nurtured” the constituency, and there was room for him to become a tall BJP leader in the state.
“Vijayendra is one of the important faces in Karnataka politics,” the political analyst said. “However, only this win may not signify much as there are other seniors and important leaders in the line before him. His rise wouldn’t be as quick as people think.”
Varuna or Shikaripura — speculation before election
A lawyer by profession, Vijayendra was serving as general secretary of the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) when he was appointed vice president of BJP’s state unit in July 2020.
Although there was speculation that he would be fielded against former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah in Varuna, Yediyurappa categorically dismissed these reports.
“Of course, there may be pressure on him to contest from there but his electoral battle will be from Shikaripura,” he had told reporters in March, according to The Hindu.“I will convey to him (Vijayendra) and also the party high command my opinion on Varuna.”
Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah contested the election from Varuna, where he defeated senior BJP minister V. Somanna by a margin of more than 46,000 votes.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)