Passing on the baton: Yediyurappa makes the first move...

After stepping down as chief minister in July last year, BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa kept a low profile and it was anybody’s guess on whether or not the Lingayat strongman will make his own manoeuvres.

The 79-year-old ‘Rajahuli’ made one such move on Friday. He announced retirement from electoral politics and that his son, BJP vice-president B Y Vijayendra, would contest from Shikaripura, a seat Yediyurappa has represented eight times since 1983.

“I don’t know if in any other state, in any election since 2014, a sitting member has announced who the candidate will be,” political analyst Sandeep Shastri says, summing up the significance of Yediyurappa’s move.

It is no secret that Yediyurappa wants to secure a better future for Vijayendra. And, if talks within the party circles are to be believed, then the 4-time chief minister is insecure.

Read | Not tired or retired, Bommai says on BSY

“Yediyurappa doesn’t have confidence in the BJP leadership that Vijayendra will be given the ticket,” a BJP office-bearer aware of the matter said. “Vijayendra can win from wherever he contests. But, for his father to give him Shikaripura, which is a safe seat, shows insecurity.”

A slew of setbacks faced by Vijayendra piled up on Yediyurappa.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, Vijayendra was denied the ticket to contest from Varuna against the then chief minister Siddaramaiah’s son.

Vijayendra carved a niche for himself by engineering the BJP’s victory in the 2019 KR Pet bypoll. He was appointed as BJP vice-president in 2020, after which he helmed the party’s victorious effort in the Sira bypoll, cementing his reputation as a poll winner. But, his aspiration to be elevated as the party’s general secretary was not granted.

Last year, Vijayendra was assigned the Maski seat for the bypoll whereas his interest lay in Basavakalyan. The BJP lost in Maski. Then, there was uproar after the BJP left him out from the Hangal and Sindgi bypolls, only to include him later.

In May this year, Vijayendra was denied the MLC election ticket even after a recommendation by the state BJP’s core committee.

“The frustration was so high that the father and son wanted to go their own way after the 2023 polls. Also, their followers were ready to contest as rebel independents,” the senior leader quoted earlier said.

Known to be a shrewd politician, Yediyurappa’s announcement on Friday was a “preemptive” move to compel the BJP central leadership on giving Vijayendra the ticket. “Politicians are known for taking up challenges, but here is a leader who has thrown a challenge,” political strategist Anand V, who tracks Yediyurappa’s politics, said.

Arguably the tallest BJP leader in Karnataka, Yediyurappa is also seen as a Lingayat strongman with considerable clout over the dominant community’s votes, a view the saffron party cannot afford to discard. His break-up with the BJP and the 2013 Assembly result are the stuff of legend. As chief minister, in January 2020, Yediyurappa famously asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for flood relief funds at a public event in Tumakuru, in a rare display of such spine.

Shastri said Yediyurappa’s “googly” will be an “acid test” for the BJP. “The party wouldn’t want to be seen as going against its strong stand against the dynasty - one son is an MP (B Y Raghavendra) and another getting the father’s baton to be MLA,” Shastri said. “Or, will that be a cost they’re willing to pay?”

Also, Yediyurappa’s machination could have a bearing on the prospects of other aging BJP leaders such as former minister K S Eshwarappa. “I hope other senior leaders will also take a cue from Yediyurappa and make way for the younger generation,” Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya said.