Yediyurappa or Yeddyurappa? Tapping lucky stars before swearing in as CM

Bengaluru: Wanting to start his new term at the right note with the stars on his side, MLA from Shikaripura who was elected to the Assembly in May 2018 has wrote a letter to the state Governor, staking claim to the government calling himself ‘B S Yediyurappa’ instead of ‘B S Yeddyurappa’ – the latter of which was the spelling on his 2018 election affidavit.

Sometime between being a two-day CM in May 2018 and wannabe-CM in July 2019, Yeddyurappa has dropped a 'd' and a 'y' to his name, going back to his earlier spelling of 'BS Yediyurappa’.

It is interesting to note that the spelling ‘Yeddyurappa’ was in fact a new one and ‘Yediyurappa’ is the spelling he has been using for most of his life. Even winning his first election in 1975 as a member of the Shikaripura Town Municipality till he became CM for the first time for just seven days in 2007 in a coalition agreement with the JD(S), he was ‘Yediruppa’.

But around the time he became CM, he changed his name to 'Yeddyurappa' on the advice of numerologists. At the time, the move had attracted quite a bit of ridicule. Newspapers shortened his name to 'Yeddy', which in Kannada means a 'moron'. His media team had to tell editors to shorten his name to BSY, instead of Yeddy.

His 2007 stint at the chief ministerial role, however, was short-lived after the JD(S) withdrew support. He came back as CM on a sympathy wave in May 2008, but again, could not complete a full term. His term was merely three years, as the BJP high command wanted him to resign in the wake of the multi-thousand-crore illegal mining scam.

Which is why, two days ago, when the first letter on BS Yediyurappa's letterhead, written to BJP chief Amit Shah after the JD(S)-Congress coalition lost the trust vote, reached the media, many thought perhaps it's a fake letter, reported by News18.

The BJP leader's letter to party chief Amit Shah.

Calls to B S Yediyurappa's aides confirmed that his letter to Amit Shah was not fake. Initially, his aides brushed off questions on the way the name is spelt. “No, there is no change in the name. It's the same as earlier,” one of them said. What they didn't say was which 'earlier' spelling was being used.

A staff in his office at the Vidhan Souda says the spelling change was made on the nameplate on his door in room 101 (the chamber designated to the legislature party in the opposition) just a few weeks ago.

Sources in the party say that he was advised to revert to his older spelling as his new spelling didn’t seem to be of much help to his political career. All his chief ministerial stints with the new spelling have been short-lived. It was seven days in 2007 (12 November to 17 November), three years from May 2008 to July 2011, and just about 48 hours in 2018. So astrologers and numerologists have advised him to revert to the older spelling.

This move seems to be in the hopes that this chief ministerial stint would last longer till the end of this Assembly, the remaining 4 years.

However another thing to note is that he is already 76. The BJP's internal rule is that those above 75 must not be holding ministerial posts. But the party also realises that Karnataka is the only state in the south where they have some standing and it cannot afford to ignore the popularity and the caste base that he enjoys. By 2023, when the term of the 15th Assembly ends, he will be 80.

Bhookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa was named after the village deity of Yediyur village in Tumkur district in 1943. For the BJP, everything is vested in this name as far as their own political prospects are concerned.