Return of Yediyurappa? After much delay, BJP names his son Karnataka chief

The appointment of Vijayendra ties up the Lingayat end for the BJP after an alliance with the JD(S) took care of the votes of the other dominant community, the Vokkaligas. The JD(S) is controlled by Vokkaliga strongman and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy.

The BJP’s sidelining of Yediyurappa and other leaders from the Lingayat community was seen to have widely contributed to the BJP’s fall from 121 seats to 66 seats in the May Assembly polls. Yediyurappa is the tallest leader of the Lingayats, who comprise 17% of the state’s population.

The BJP is hoping that the installation of Vijayendra will help it replicate its 2019 Lok Sabha performance, when it had won 25 of the 28 seats in Karnataka.

It also means that the BJP for now has abandoned its attempt to move to a more cadre-based leadership system, which it tried to do by forcing out Yediyurappa mid-term as CM in 2021. In a message to strongmen from dominant castes like Yediyurappa that they could no longer dictate terms to the party leadership, and citing its stand against dynastic politics, the BJP had in 2018 also denied a poll ticket to Vijayendra and denied him a ministerial post between 2021-2023.

However, as the sidelining of Yediyurappa bruised the state unit, the BJP had partially acquiesced. First, the Lingayat strongman was included into the BJP National Executive in 2022, and then Vijayendra given a ticket in the May polls, if only after Yediyurappa announced he was leaving electoral politics.

Yediyurappa’s dream

Vijayendra’s appointment as state BJP chief will fulfill what was seen to be Yediyurappa’s dream, to install his younger son in a prominent position before he bows out of active politics.

The change of guard also signals sidelining of BJP national general secretary B L Santhosh. Kateel was seen as his loyal aide, and crucial to Santhosh’s attempts to wrest control of the party in Karnataka. However, the May loss had dealt a big blow to Santhosh’s chances.

In the run-up to Vijayendra’s appointment, Yediyurappa deployed all his political acumen to keep the BJP on its toes. He dropped enough hints that internal differences had cost the BJP many seats in the May elections, and recently, his close associates had been threatening to stay away from the Winter Session of the Assembly if crucial appointments such as those of CLP leader and state unit chief were kept hanging.

Sources said that while Union minister Shobha Karandlaje’s name was among the frontrunners for the state chief post, the chances of the Vokkaliga leader had dimmed after the BJP’s alliance with the JD(S). “With the JD(S) coming into the NDA, the appointment of a Vokkaliga leader as the BJP chief was not viable. The party had to have someone from the Lingayat community… Now the leadership is likely to appoint an OBC leader as the legislative leader,” a party leader said.

But the task before Vijayendra, who has been a leader of the BJP Yuva Morcha and a vice-president of the state unit, is onerous. The Karnataka BJP is divided on several fronts, including between those loyal to his father and those seen as owing loyalty to the Sangh Parivar and central leadership.

Many in the latter faction believe Yediyurappa’s tenure between 2019-2022 where Vijayendra was seen functioning as a “Super CM ” was the reason for the fall of the party in Karnataka.

His previous stints in the organisation have not really tested Vijayendra’s skills, leaving him dependent heavily on his father’s four-decade-long experience and hold on the party. Even his May win from Shikaripura, Yediyurappa’s turf, had not come easily and he had to huff and puff to defeat an Independent.

Where Vijayendra scores is in having built a support base for himself among youths in parts of the state. He has also spent years as a backroom player for his father, which could come in handy.

Vijayendra was seen to have first made his mark in the party by helping the BJP win a bypoll to Krishnarajpet, considered a Vokkaliga stronghold and out of the party’s reach, in December 2019. The party had won 12 out of 15 seats in the by-elections held at the time, ensuring stability of the Yediyurappa-led government. Next year, he had been named vice-president.

Like his father, Vijayendra has always been careful with his words and toed the party line in public, sources pointed out.

Questioned during the May polls about his lack of experience as a politician unlike his father’s rise from the grassroots, Vijayendra had said: “Whenever I have been given responsibilities, I have worked effectively and demonstrated. This has been recognized by the party.”

Apart from his unofficial wielding of power in Yediyurappa’s last term, Vijayendra had faced controversy when he was named in a mining-linked bribery scam during his father’s first tenure as CM in 2008-2011. However, he was acquitted in the case along with Yediyurappa and others.

Congress spokesperson Ramesh Babu suggested that the divided BJP was in for more trouble . “Senior leaders in the BJP… will have to put their dreams aside and follow a young leader. They are now of no use to the BJP,” he posted.

Babu also took a swipe at the BJP for choosing Yediyurappa’s son, while always attacking Opposition parties over dynastic politics.

Yediyurappa’s elder son B Y Raghavendra is a Lok Sabha MP from the family’s home district of Shivamogga. In active politics for over a decade, he is expected to seek a ticket again to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

with inputs from Liz Mathew, New Delhi