Days after Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa rubbished reports of his resignation, top sources said the die is cast and after five decades of public life, BSY, the face of the Lingayat community, will finally hang his boots.
Sources told NewsX that the message was conveyed to BSY by Prime Minister himself last Friday. It was BSY who brought up the issue of leadership change as the agreed term of two years came to an end. BSY told the Prime Minister that he was ready to make way as he was constantly hit by barbs over leadership change to which Modi agreed and thanked Yediyurappa for his contributions. In fact, both leaders talked about bringing back BJP to power in Karnataka and the role BSY will play in the long run.
During his talks with national president J.P. Nadda, details about the transition were discussed further. “It was decided that BSY should hold legislative party meeting on 26 July and by that time, the party top brass will convey the name of his successor,’’ sources said.
On the cryptic statement of BSY on Sunday in Bengaluru after his Delhi visit that he will continue as CM and at the same time calling for a legislature party meeting after a gap of one year, sources said that in the event of the party top brass not arriving at a consensual candidate which should also be largely acceptable by the legislature, BSY might be asked to continue for some more time. In that context, BSY will use the platform on 26 July to spell out ways to strengthen the party and gear up for local body polls.
The national BJP is treading cautiously as far as naming the next CM as the stakes are high for the saffron party which has tasted victory on more than one occasion largely due to BSY who has single-handedly swayed the Lingayat votes in BJP’s favour. In 2013, the BJP suffered a major setback as Yediyurappa broke out of BJP and consumed a major vote share which paved way for the Congress to return with majority.
The BJP doesn’t have the luxury of facing backlash from its MLAs here in the face of upcoming elections in six states early 2022. In 2019 parliamentary elections, Karnataka gave 25 MPs out of 28 creating history. It’s precisely for this reason that the BJP top brass needed BSY to be onboard for the transition.“The national leaders also know for a fact that though BSY might volunteer to vacate on the face of it, but the 24X7 politician, only junior to H.D. Deve Gowda, still has some years left in him and is also desperate to settle his sons. He wants to leverage on the fact that a majority of Lingayats will always back him. This is a contentious issue which is still not settled,’’ sources said.
A glimpse into what can happen in the next one week was the audio leak of state BJP president Naleen Kumar Katil where he is heard saying the next CM will be from Mangaluru and that senior leaders like Jagadish Shettar and Eshwarppa will be shown the door. The audio leak has sent the state BJP into a tizzy. “This is just a trailer of what is coming up. It’s going to get murkier and BSY is a fighter and will not go down so easily,” sources said.
On the other hand, names of parliamentary affairs minister Prahallad Joshi, Karnataka speaker Vishveshwar Kageri, BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi, mining minister Mugesh Nirani and Home minister Basavaraj Bommai are doing the rounds for the top job. The BJP top brass may decide on the next CM by 26 July morning. Nothing has been offered to B.Y. Vijeyndra as of now, he will continue as state BJP vice-president.
Meanwhile, hectic political activity has begun with BSY’s exit looking imminent. Congress has moved in to fish in troubled waters. Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivkumar have been summoned to Delhi. The Congress high command will hold the truce meeting, as both the leaders have been engaged in shadow boxing for the last two weeks.
Senior Congress leader and former minister M.B. Patil, who belongs to the Lingayat community, said the Lingayat community will be displeased with BJP central leaders if they remove Yediyurappa from the Chief Minister’s post. Congress MLA Patil backed the leadership of Yediyurappa and tweeted: “Surely the Lingayats will be displeased with the BJP’s central leaders if they remove the Lingayat leader B.S. Yeddyurappa from the post of the Chief Minister.”
WITH AGENCY INPUTS