The BJP’s old warhorse in Karnataka seems to be fighting his final battle. Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, 78, is on a sticky wicket as the rift between him and the party’s central leadership is becoming evident. The saffron party looks like it is planning a graceful exit for the Lingayat strongman, who is its tallest leader in the state. For the party, which is preparing for a southern surge, Karnataka will be a crucial anchor and strong leadership in the state is vital. The last year has seen dissent and resentment brewing within its ranks. The BJP’s image has also been affected by poor governance and allegations of corruption.
In March 2020, an unsigned letter doing the rounds, calling for the chief minister’s replacement. It was the second anonymous letter in a month seeking a change in leadership, which exposed the brewing factionalism within the Karnataka BJP. The letter heaped praise on Yediyurappa, but also expressed concern over his age and health, and sought an “honourable exit” for him. The letter also dubbed the chief minister’s younger son B.Y. Vijayendra, 44, BJP state vice president, as the “super CM”. Senior party leaders felt side-lined after Yediyurappa inducted turncoats into the cabinet to “reward” them for helping install the BJP government following the political coup which toppled the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government in July 2019. The voices demanding a change in leadership have only grown louder ever since. Now, Yediyurappa finds himself isolated within the party. It is said that his coterie, too, has been alienated owing to Vijayendra’s growing clout within the party and the government.
The allegations of corruption against Vijayendra, many leaders fear, might be Yediyurappa’s undoing. Leader of the opposition Siddaramaiah has alleged that Vijayendra, Yediyurappa’s son-in-law Virupakshappa Maradi and grandson Shashidhar Maradi accepted kickbacks worth 017 crore in a housing project. Yediyurappa’s first stint as chief minister in 2009 ended when he was forced to step down following corruption charges, while his detractors criticised caste and family interference in administration. It had devastated the BJP’s state unit. This time, the party is hoping to save itself by initiating a change of guard well ahead of the 2023 assembly elections.
Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, former Union minister and two-time BJP MLA from Vijayapura, said that the BJP leadership is fed up of Yediyurappa and that he will not last long in the chief minister’s chair. The problems between Yediyurappa and the central leadership is obvious in the cold responses to the chief minister’s requests. In August 2019, Yediyurappa was left to fight a lone battle as two-thirds of the state was devastated by floods. The Centre’s alleged delay in releasing flood relief funds gifted political opponents the ammunition to target Yediyurappa.
In 2020, the central leadership delayed a cabinet expansion for almost 25 days, even though the chief minister was juggling more than 15 portfolios. When it happened, there was a last minute surprise—the appointment of three deputy chief ministers, Govind Karjol, 68, a five-time MLA; Laxman Savadi, 59, a three-time MLA; and Dr Ashwathnarayan C.N., 51, a two-time MLA. The party leadership also overlooked the chief minister’s suggestions for Rajya Sabha seats and nominated relatively junior party workers to the upper house and, subsequently, even to the legislative council.
It is learnt that Yediyurappa has been advised by BJP president J.P. Nadda to involve state president Nalin Kumar Kateel and Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh in decision making. Signalling revolt, Yediyurappa appointed the heads of boards and corporations with little consultation. To placate the legislators disappointed over not being inducted into the cabinet, Yediyurappa doled out cabinet ranks to 13 legislators heading the various boards and corporations and four others were given junior minister ranks. This drew criticism as the state is reeling under a financial crisis because of floods and the pandemic.
Recently, the chief minister’s plan to grant other backward castes status for Lingayats was scuttled by the party leadership, which feared it would be a dangerous precedent as similar demands would surface from the Marathas in Maharashtra and the Patels in Gujarat, among others. Amid stiff opposition from his own party, Yediyurappa constituted the Lingayat Veerashaiva Development Corporation with a corpus of 0500 crore. The move has led to other dominant communities like the Kurubas and the Vokkaligas demanding a similar caste-based corporation. Yediyurappa’s decision to form a Maratha development corporation has irked the pro-Kannada activists. While the chief minister says that the communities are socioeconomically backward, the opposition sees it as a gimmick ahead of the upcoming bypolls.
In the last two months, Yediyurappa has also been cosying up to the JD(S). The camaraderie between Yediyurappa and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, and the JD(S) supporting a contentious land bill and pressing for the removal of the legislative council chairman (Pratapchandra Shetty, a Congress MLC) has led to speculations of a possible coup—if Yediyurappa is forced to step down. The constant friction and verbal battles between Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy have helped Yediyurappa deflect attention from his own shortcomings. “The Yediyurappa government is yet to take-off,” has become a common phrase, even in BJP circles.
Even as the BJP scouts for Yediyurappa’s political successor, it acknowledges him as the leader who changed its fortunes in a Congress-ruled state. It is also aware that it cannot afford to antagonise the Lingayat community, which holds sway in at least 100 assembly constituencies in north Karnataka. The politically strong Lingayats have had eight chief ministers. The other seven were B.D. Jatti, S. Nijalingappa, S.R. Kanthi, S.R. Bommai, Veerendra Patil, J.H. Patel and Jagadish Shettar. Veerendra Patil was unceremoniously removed from office by former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. This led to the community shifting its loyalty from the Congress to the BJP.
Considering Yediyurappa’s political astuteness and popularity, it was no surprise that the party forgave his rebellion (he quit the BJP and floated a new party—Karnataka Janata Paksha—in 2011) and welcomed him back into its fold in 2014. The KJP took 10 per cent of BJP’s vote share in the 2013 assembly polls, reducing the national party to 40 seats. The BJP later made another exception for Yediyurappa and allowed him to become chief minister at 76 (the unwritten rule in the BJP prevents those above 75 from holding office).
In a bid to change the rules of engagement with its state leaders and wean the party off its dependency on any one community or leader, the party is aiming for collective leadership. It is bringing in fresh faces to add vigour to the party and drafting young leaders into leadership roles (like Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya). The three deputy chief ministers are a good example of the new strategy. Karjol is a dalit leader, Savadi a Lingayat leader and Ashwathnarayan a Vokkaliga. The appointment of Kateel, a hindutva leader and three-time MP from Dakshina Kannada, as state president is in line with the party’s attempt to balance the caste equation as the dominant communities have always controlled crucial posts (Kateel belongs to the small Bunt community).
The big question if the party decides to replace Yediyurappa is: Will he go quietly? Party insiders hint that his elder son B.Y. Raghavendra, 47, a three-time MP from Shivamogga, might be drafted into the Central cabinet to placate Yediyurappa. While the party has no ready replacement to fill Yediyurappa’s big shoes, it has a long line-up of senior leaders to consider. This includes former chief ministers D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Shettar, former deputy chief ministers R. Ashok and K.S. Eshwarappa, Union minister Pralhad Joshi, BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi and the three deputy chief ministers. However, in the BJP, the chances of a dark horse emerging cannot be ruled out.