Internal poll: only BS Yeddyurappa can win

BENGALURU: It took a secret internal survey—on who could help the BJP win not only polls to the Legislative Assembly in 2018 but also garner maximum number of seats in parliamentary elections next year—for party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to select former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa over other contenders to head the state unit of the party.

The survey not only brought out the opinion of party cadre but also of voters but deliberately kept top leaders of the state unit out because they were dithering when asked to make a unanimous choice on who ought to be appointed the new chief in Karnataka.

The appointment could well be described as the second resurrection in a career spanning more than four decades for the Lingayat strongman who returned to BJP on January 9, 2014 after a brief tenure as president of Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) during the crucial Assembly polls in 2013.  

Sources in the party told Deccan Chronicle that the timing of announcement of his appointment came as a major surprise to all his detractors within the party because some felt that central leaders would first focus on elections in five states.

Some others assumed that members of the core committee would be summoned to New Delhi for consultation before arriving at a decision on selection of incumbent Pralhad Joshi’s successor. 

Sources said though sufficient time was given to local leaders to sort out their differences and make a unanimous choice on the new state unit president, some leaders deliberately propped the candidature of former minister C T Ravi to scuttle Mr Yeddyurappa’s chances.

Such a move backfired as Mr Ravi, a Vokkaliga, did not have the backing of leaders of his community. Besides, the central leaders were also getting restive in view of a slew of complaints from party workers on the style of functioning of state unit leaders.

At this juncture, Mr Yeddyurappa’s supporters and Lingayat leaders mounted pressure on central leaders to give the former chief minister another chance to strengthen the support-base of the party. 

 Chief Minister’s gaddi on his sights again
Rising like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes, Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa has ascended the top position in  state BJP for the second time in his career, and could go on to occupy the CM’s gaddi again, if he succeeds in leading his party to victory in 2018 assembly elections.

This 73 year-old leader's long ride to fame as the saffron brigade's poster boy, south of the Vindhyas began with 10-km bicycle rides, in early 1970s. He started his career as a clerk at a rice mill in Shikaripura in Shivamogga district. This is where he got initiated into farmers' issues and politics.

Flanked by two strapping wrestlers, this grim-faced leader would peddle up the rugged lanes of Shivamogga every morning to get the hang of farmers’ problems. These trips extended to touch other parts of the taluk, and so did the band of cycle-borne farmers.

The intensity of his campaign helped power his steady rise in local politics - head of the taluk unit of Jana Sangh in 1972 to municipal councillor in 1975 and president of the municipal council two years later.

By 1983, he had mustered enough support to trounce a minister and walk into the Legislative Assembly for the first time. Cut to 2007. Mr Yeddyurappa continued to wear his concern for farmers on his sleeves. As deputy CM, he reeled off a slew of populist measures for farmers, fishermen and weavers and labourers.

And as the first BJP CM in south, he assumed office by taking the oath in the name of farmers. As CM, however, he was indicted by Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde for his involvement in illegal mining scam.

He was not only forced to step down on July 31, 2011, but was also forced to spend 23 days in prison. A year later, he quit the BJP to launch his own outfit, Karnataka Janata Party (KJP), fielded candidates in elections held in 2013 and caused much damage to the vote-base of BJP, thus facilitating an easy victory for the Congress.  

On the eve of Lok Sabha elections in 2014, however, Mr Yeddyurappa announced a merger of his party with BJP and staged a home-coming. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Shivamogga constituency as the BJP swept the polls across the country.

A widower with three daughters and two sons, Mr Yeddyurappa has groomed his eldest son Raghavendra in politics and helped him win elections to Lok Sabha and the Assembly.