The BJP is “seriously considering” the candidature of party vice-president and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra for the Basavakalyan bypoll that is yet to be announced, according to sources.
The Basavakalyan assembly segment in Bidar district is due for a bypoll after its incumbent Congress legislator B Narayan Rao, 66, died due to Covid-19 complications in September.
The constituency is dominated by the Lingayat community to which Vijayendra belongs.
“Vijayendra’s candidature in Basavakalyan is under discussion,” a source said. “One argument is that his presence in that segment would strengthen the BJP in the Kalyana Karnataka region.”
Rao himself was not a Lingayat; he belonged to the backward fishermen community. But, he supported the demand to recreate 12th century social reformer Basavanna’s concept of Anubhava Mantapa.
If Vijayendra gets the ticket, it will be his first electoral outing. In the 2018 assembly elections, he was denied the ticket to contest against the then chief minister Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra from the Varuna constituency in Mysuru.
In August, Vijayendra was elevated from the state Yuva Morcha as the party’s vice-president in what was seen as a reward for helping the BJP win in the Vokkaliga-dominated KR Pet during the December 2019 bypolls. For the November 3 bypoll, Vijayendra camped in Sira and the party is confident of putting up a fight in this segment where its presence was negligible.
Widely seen as Yediyurappa’s political heir, Vijayendra’s entry into the Legislative Assembly could be timed for the rumoured change in leadership.