Bengaluru: B.S. Yediyurappa, 79, might have delivered his “farewell speech” in the Karnataka assembly this week, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart has made it clear that he’s unlikely to hang up his political boots any time soon.
On Friday, Yediyurappa addressed the House for one last time and heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and even members of the opposition, including leader of the opposition, Siddaramaiah of the Congress, and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Deve Gowda.
“I have decided not to contest the polls but… I will work for the party’s victory, build the organisation and will work for the party till my last breath. My only goal is that in the coming days I will travel the entire state and bring the BJP back to power and will not have a day or moment for myself during this time,” Yediyurappa said Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Yediyurappa’s address on Twitter. “As a worker of BJP, I found this speech very inspiring. This includes our party’s ethics. It will definitely inspire other activists as well.”
The six-time legislator, who entered the Karnataka assembly from the Shikaripura seat in 1983, worked hard to catapult the BJP to power in the south Indian state for the first time in 2008.
His relevance for the party can be gauged by Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement at a public rally Thursday, where he asked the people of the state to “put their faith” in him ahead of the state polls this year.
Notably, Yediyurappa stepped down from the post of chief minister in July 2021 to give way to incumbent B.S. Bommai. However, Bommai continues to wade from one crisis to another — infighting to corruption allegations — and has so far not been able to assuage the anger of the Panchamasali sub-sect of the Lingayats over reservation, despite being from the same community.
The Lingayats and Vokkaligas are two dominant communities in Karnataka and play an important role in electoral politics.
“I would like to say one thing, put your faith in [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi ji once… put your faith in Yediyurappa, we will give such a government in Karnataka that will rid the state of corruption in five years and will make Karnataka the number one state in all of southern India,” Shah had said Thursday.
The four-time CM, who has never completed an entire 5-year term, told ThePrint Monday that he will remain active in politics despite his decision not to contest in the upcoming elections. “I will campaign in this election and the next elections too,” he had said.
Political analysts say that the party will have to rely on Yediyurappa to do well in the upcoming elections or even if it performs badly, making him indispensable for the BJP.
Professor Chambi Puranik, a former faculty member in the political science department at the University of Mysore, told The Print: “Without Yediyurappa, the BJP cannot come to power in Karnataka. That is proved beyond the shadow of doubt and Yediyurappa has demonstrated this by leaving (in 2012) and then rejoining the party (2014) that he has an appeal over the majority of the Lingayat voters and other OBCs (Other Backward Classes).”
Also Read: Who are Panchamasali Lingayats & why they’re so important in Karnataka politics
‘Age no bar’
Facing mounting charges of corruption and failed attempts at pushing the Hindutva agenda, the BJP has no option but to fall back on the likes of Yediyurappa who has, over the decades, mastered the craft of caste-based politics and stitching up local alliances, analysts say.
Age notwithstanding, Yediyurappa, who turns 80 on 27 February, is a “mass leader” who can bring in a chunk of backward classes votes as well, they add.
“He has been much above the narrow Hindutva allegation or brand that the BJP was projecting. He was reaching out to other sections like OBCs and minorities in his own way from the grassroots,” Puranik added. “You can admit that he is a mass leader whose presence or support for the BJP will be a stronger point now at this juncture when the state is facing the threat of a fractured mandate.”
A Bengaluru-based analyst, requesting anonymity, said Yediyurappa was more important for the BJP than even Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, if they want to win in Karnataka.
‘Making way for his son’
The Congress has used the BJP’s alleged “ill treatment” of Yediyurappa as a strategy to seek the support of the Lingayat community, of which the former CM is seen as the tallest leader in the state.
“Yediyurappa, who has toured the state and is determined to bring the BJP back to power, is physically able to serve the people as a legislator once again. So, if he withdraws, won’t it be a betrayal of the people of Shikaripura who have elected him all these years?” Siddaramaiah said in a post on Twitter Thursday.
However, analysts point out that Yediyurappa’s political retirement would be linked to how the BJP can accommodate his younger son, Vijayendra, in the upcoming elections.
Asked who will contest from the Shikaripura seat this time, Yediyurappa told the media Friday: “It will be mostly Vijayendra… but the high command has to approve.”
In 2021, when Yediyurappa was forced to step down from the chief minister’s chair due to a number of factors ranging from corruptions allegations to brewing dissent in the state party unit, he was elevated to the BJP’s parliamentary board. His younger son B.Y. Vijayendra, who was the state unit vice-president at that time, was made poll-incharge for by-elections.
Earlier this month, Vijayendra was selected by the party to head the committee that “organises conventions of various morchas” in the state ahead of the elections.
Also Read: With Bommai on ropes, Yediyurappa is BJP’s brahmastra in Karnataka. But he drives hard bargain
‘No secondary role’
Analysts say H.D. Deve Gowda, Siddaramaiah and Yediyurappa, despite being political rivals, are known to share a cordial working relationship, which is a part of ‘old-school politics’ that has been key to survival in Karnataka’s volatile political climate.
Another Bengaluru-based political analyst, who wished not to be named, said that Yediyurappa has a “knack” for getting people and leaders to do what he wants, “much like how he diluted the Hindutva poster boys like Basanagouda Patil (Yatnal) and others to go back to caste-based demands with the Panchamasali agitation which plays right into the 79-year-old’s style of politics”.
Yatnal has been a staunch critic of Yediyurappa and has even questioned the practice of giving election tickets to more than one member of any family.
Bommai’s decision to meet former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and “seek his guidance” soon after taking over as chief minister in July 2021, was met with heavy backlash from BJP workers. However, they never objected to such outreach by Yediyurappa in the past, analysts say.
On Friday, Yediyurappa said: “Deve Gowda is an inspiration for all. Even today he thinks of the state and national issues and provides guidance even at this age.”
He also praised Siddaramaiah for his contributions to the state and keeping any party rivalries aside, which analysts say is the ability that helps these senior leaders remain actively involved in the power equation irrespective of which party forms the government.
“The fact is that he (Yediyurappa) is not going to play a secondary role in the BJP. That’s a requirement of all these people (old-school politicians)… they are all very individual-centric. Whether it’s true or false, he believes that he built the BJP from scratch and a lot of others also believe that,” added the Bengaluru-based analyst quoted above.
(Edited by Anumeha Saxena)
Also Read: Education, justice, poll tickets — what are Karnataka’s mutts & how they became power centres