BJP takes lesson, returns Karnataka turf to Yediyurappa

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, November 10: Six months after facing a humiliating defeat in the Karnataka Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has returned the party affairs in the state to the Yediyurappa family. The BJP on Friday appointed Vijayendra Yediyurappa as the party president of Karnataka.

Vijayendra Yediyurappa inherited the Shikaripura Assembly seat from his father and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. The senior Yediyurappa is currently the BJP parliamentary board member while he was replaced as chief minister of the state by Basavaraj Bommai ahead of the Assembly election in the state.

By giving the reign of the party affairs to Vijayendra Yediyurappa, the BJP has accepted that sidelining BSY was a mistake for the saffron outfit which in the assessment of the state leaders had cost the organisation dearly in the Assembly election. With the bJP national general secretary BL Santhosh calling shots in forcing the leadership transition, BSY was seen to have been miffed, first at losing the CM post and subsequently for scores of his followers being denied the Assembly tickets.

After the post-poll analysis, the BJP had assessed that the party lost at least a dozen seats solely because of BSY not campaigning in those constituencies. With BSY indicating that he was being sidelined in the party affairs, the saffron outfit to its dismay found the Lingayata vote base substantially voting for the Congress. By giving back the charge of the organisation in Karnataka to the Yediyurappa family, the BJP is also indicating that the party will not be guided by Santhosh in the state politics. Insiders in the BJP underline the tug of war between BSY and Santhosh for splitting the party ranks in Karnataka into factions, which also affected the poll prospects in the May Assembly election this year.

Nalin Kumar Kateel, the outgoing state unit president of the BJP, was known to have been a protégé of Santhosh. He was at odds with both BSY and the former state chief minister Bommai, noted a senior state BJP functionary, who also added that the central leadership of the party has finally accepted the mistake of fully endorsing the ideas of Santhosh.

Incidentally, BSY is seen to have stitched the tie-up with the JD (S) to help the BJP prepare for the Lok Sabha elections with the alliance possibly helping the consolidation of the Vokkaliga vote base which had also substantially voted for the Congress in the Assembly election.   

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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