Former chief minister B S Yediyurappa was on Wednesday inducted into the BJP’s top decision-making bodies — the Central Parliamentary Board and the Central Election Committee — signalling the party’s dependence on the Lingayat strongman in the poll-bound Karnataka.
The BJP’s reconfiguration of its decision-making bodies, with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, notably saw Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan being dropped from the Central Parliamentary Board, which occupies the most important position in the party’s structural hierarchy.
Arguably the tallest BJP leader in Karnataka, Yediyurappa saw elevation more than a year after he stepped down as CM. Last month, he announced his retirement from electoral politics. A fortnight ago, he held one-on-one talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
This is widely seen as the party’s way of keeping the 79-year-old in good humour. This will help the BJP block Congress’ attempts to project Yediyurappa as being sidelined, on the back of which it wanted to make inroads into the dominant Lingayat community.
According to Yediyurappa’s office, he thanked PM Narendra Modi over phone. Modi told him that his service is required to strengthen BJP and bring it to power not only in Karnataka but throughout south India.
Flanked by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and other party leaders, Yediyurappa told reporters his new responsibilities would help the party and its bid to retain power in the state.
“In Karnataka, we used to end up with 108-110 seats. Our resolve is to win 130-140 seats, which we will achieve under a collective leadership. It won’t be just me,” Yediyurappa said. “You’ll see how the current will pass and how the environment will change in a few days. Some people are under the illusion that they have already become CM. They will be disappointed,” he said, taunting Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar.
Yediyurappa’s exit as CM in July 2021 had caused heartburn among his loyalists and the Lingayats. In October last, IT officials raided Yediyurappa’s assistant, indicating that all was not well with him and the high command. However, the BJP leadership appears to have sought refuge in the ‘mass leader’ to tide over setbacks faced by the Bommai administration.
It is no secret that Yediyurappa wants to secure the future of his son, party vice-president B Y Vijayendra. He even announced that Vijayendra would contest in his stead from Shikaripura, which was followed by a retraction.
Yediyurappa rubbished a question on whether the party wanted to pacify him with the new positions. “The party is aware that I’d work without expecting any position,” he said. “I’m the best example to show that the BJP will not desert active, ordinary karyakartas. I don’t believe one can retire from politics and public life,” he said, vowing to travel across the state to mobilise support for the BJP.
With Yediyurappa also on the central election committee, his camp will hope to counter the influence of party national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, his bete noire, when it comes to selection of candidates. But, former Union minister Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, a staunch Yediyurappa critic, does not agree.
“Sometimes, election committee members themselves won’t get tickets,” he quipped.