Bengaluru: Top level sources told DC that apart from snipping the BJP leader B. S. Yeddyurappa’s wings on his unilateral move to field his son B. Y. Vijayendra from Varuna in Mysuru against CM Siddaramaiah’s son Yatindra, the party had already decided to withhold announcing Vijayendra’s name till April 23. This was to prevent Congress from fielding an Independent Lingayat candidate to split the Lingayat vote, and because an internal survey and Intelligence report confirmed that he may lose the seat to Yatindra. Yeddyurappa is BJP’s Lingayat strongman.
The second reason for denying BSV the ticket for Varuna at the very last minute, the source said was because “ an internal survey and Intelligence report reportedly confirmed that he may lose the seat to Yatindra. It would have been a loss of face for the saffron party."
The party faced the embarrassment of violent protests from his supporters, following which instead of the party succumbing and giving him the ticket, he was put in-charge of over 20 constituencies as gen.secretary of the Yuva Morcha.
The large scale protests that led to a mild police lathi charge after Yeddyurappa on Monday announced at a meeting organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party at Nanjanagudu, near Mysuru that his son will not contest from Varuna were reportedly “engineered” to demonstrate the anger of the party workers.
Though his name was not announced by the party Vijayendra had been campaigning in the constituency for more than a fortnight.
