B S Yediyurappa announces Rudresh as Yeswanthpur candidate, upsets JD(S)

Bengaluru: Former chief minister B S Yediyurappa’s claim on Sunday that his follower M Rudresh would be the BJP candidate from Yeswanthpur in the 2028 Assembly polls has triggered immense political speculation.

Participating in Rudresh’s birthday celebrations, Yediyurappa, who is also a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board, had said: “People have decided to make M Rudresh the candidate. I request you to elect Rudresh with a big margin.”

Yediyurappa’s comments have ruffled feathers in the BJP-JD(S) alliance, as JD(S) aspirant T N Javarayi Gowda, an MLC, took exception to it. 

“The BJP-JD(S) alliance successfully performed in Lok Sabha polls. I don’t know in what sense he said this. H D Deve Gowda, H D Kumaraswamy and BJP central leaders have to take a final decision. This unilateral decision has confused our cadres,” Gowda said.

Over the last decade and so, the Vokkaliga-dominated Yeswanthpur constituency in north-west Bengaluru has witnessed a stiff contest between S T Somashekhar and Javarayi Gowda, both Vokkaligas. Somashekar won the first two elections in 2013 and 2018 as a Congress candidate. 

After he crossed over to the BJP in 2019, Somashekar won the by-election and retained the seat in 2023. However, Somashekar distanced himself from the BJP and grew closer to his home party. A few months ago, he was expelled from the BJP.

Downplaying the debate, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said: “Yediyurappa is a senior and may have said that out of his feelings for him (Rudresh). However, the candidates in all of the 224 constituencies, including Shikaripura (Yediyurappa’s pocket borough, now represented by Vijayendra) will be decided by the BJP core committee, and later ratified by the central leaders.”