BS Yediyurappa: The man who tamed the storm in Karnataka
- Bharatiya Janata Party has won 12 of the 15 seats that were contested in the bypolls
- His government had replaced a year-old H.D. Kumaraswamy government, a coalition of his Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress
On Monday, when Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa announced that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 12 of the 15 seats that were contested in the bypolls, he was putting to rest concerns over the stability of his six-month-long government. His government had replaced a year-old H.D. Kumaraswamy government, a coalition of his Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress.
“In the remaining three and a half years, I, along with my cabinet and legislators, will give good governance and aim to win 150 seats in the next elections,” Yediyurappa said, in an indication that BJP has few choices but to trust the veteran.
To his credit, the 76-year-old Lingayat strongman, along with the late Ananth Kumar, built the party from the scratch in the state in the early 1980s. He proved his mettle in 2008 when BJP formed government in the state in 2008 and again now. It was the first time the BJP, even now considered a north Indian phenomenon by its detractors, had formed a government in a southern state.
Though Yediyurappa shares a tempestuous relationship with the BJP top brass, Monday’s results will now make it impossible to ignore him, especially as he won the recent elections pretty much with no support at all from the central leadership.
Yediyurappa marshalled his entire party to bypoll-bound constituencies to not just help stabilise the government but also to keep his word to stand by those who helped him capture power. And it paid off and how. He has not only secured the government, but also wiped out any discord within the BJP. Murmurs of a cold war with party general secretary (organisation), B.L.Santosh, have also been laid to rest.
“He is in a much better position of command now,” said Harish Ramaswamy, political analyst and faculty at Karnatak University, Dharwad.
The victory in Krishnarajapete (K.R.Pete) in Mandya, a bastion of the JD(S), will give him an opportunity to sneak in his second son, B.Y.Vijayendra, into the party.
An earlier attempt to sideline Yediyurappa had ended in a disaster when, in 2012, he parted ways with the BJP. The following year, the Congress routed the BJP. Quickly realising its folly, the BJP hurriedly brought back Yediyurappa and the support of the dominant Lingayat community that he commanded, leading it to become the single largest party in the 2018 assembly elections.
But the road ahead is unlikely to be less tumultuous. Reportedly, the irrepressible Amit Shah has little love for Yediyurappa.
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First Published:10 Dec 2019, 10:33 AM IST
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