The 80th birthday celebration of BS Yediyurappa was no less spectacle. PM Modi during his speech lauded the Karnataka Govt and took enough time to praise the BJP rule in the state under former CM BS Yediyurappa.
Karnataka BJP stalwart BS Yediyurappa turned 80 yesterday. And on this occasion or one that coincided with it, he also received a special gift from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the inauguration of Shivamogga Airport, in Yediyurappa’s home districts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended a rare gesture of camaraderie to the senior leader of the party.
As soon as PM Modi arrived at the venue, he saw BS Yediyurappa standing to welcome him. The PM walked up to him, caught his hand, and started walking towards the stage. This gesture left even Yediyuappa a bit perplexed while camerapersons struggled to capture this moment. Soon after the video surfaced on the internet, it went viral.
This gesture of the Prime Minister is so rarely extended even to the senior/ veteran leaders of BJP, most of whom are now sitting in margadarshak Mandal, which says a lot. About BJP, About Karnataka Politics, and also about the importance of BS Yediyurappa.
Especially because this was the same leader who was replaced as a CM by the BJP Central leadership just about a year ago. Let’s talk about this in this article.
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The 80th birthday celebration of BS Yediyurappa was no less spectacle. PM Modi during his speech lauded the Karnataka Govt and took enough time to praise the BJP rule in the state under former CM BS Yediyurappa.
He then requested the audience to raise the flashlights of their smartphones as a show of respect for the BJP veteran from the state, evoking a massive response from the gathering.
This is unlike what PM Modi has done, for any leader. Then why is this going extra mile for BS Yediyurappa? That even after replacing him as the CM of Karnataka with the younger protegee of his BS Bommai the party can’t ignore him? Or may I say it can’t afford to ignore him? Let’s understand point by point.
Karnataka Elections
Of the 9 state elections, Karnataka is one. Elections are to be conducted in the state in April-may this year. And the party is already embroiled in corruption controversies. The Opposition Congress’ narrative around 40% commission allegations, PayCM, and campaign against Bommai has caught on, and the Hijab ban controversy, and attacks on Minorities, have added more trouble for the incumbent govt. The BJP is clearly on the back foot.
At a time like this, the party has no option but to hold on to BS Yeddyurappa, the Lingayat mass leader who is majorly credited for BJP’s tremendous success in the only southern state.
But this wasn’t the case almost one and half years back when in July 2021, the party removed him as CM of the state and appointed BS Bommai, another Lingayat leader as the CM of the state. The reason cited was of his age. Yediyurappa was well past 75, the age limit till which one can hold the post in BJP. That isn’t a rule but a norm adopted by the party.
This abrupt removal was seen as a humiliation to cut Yediyurappa to size.
After that, there were reports of Yediyurappa being sidelined in the party. There were reports of him skipping Karnataka Govt events.
Recently, Yediyurappa also announced that he won’t be contesting the upcoming elections as well. However, Yediyurappa has maintained that everything is well, and more too often he has also asserted that nobody can finish him off politically.
And he isn’t wrong. Yediyurappa is an eight-time MLA from the Shikaripura Assembly constituency in Shivamogga district, he has been the chief minister four times, besides serving as leader of the opposition thrice.
An illustrious career in politics makes him one of the senior-most leaders in Karnataka Politics. Despite allegations of bribery, and rampant corruption the politician holds sway over the masses.
Lingayat Identity
Lingayat community forms the major part of BJP’s vote bank in the state followed by Vokkaliga. BS Yediyurappa is considered the most popular Lingayat leader in the state. Although, BS Bommai is Lingayat’s leader too, but he had never enjoyed the popularity or influence among the masses like Yediyurappa.
Linagayats form 17% of the state’s population, being the single largest community in the state especially Uttar Karnataka.
The Lingayat community may, however, be drifting away from BJP. Primarily because of the demand for increasing the Lingayat Reservation quota. There are also demands of declaring Lingayat as a separate religion. This goes against the BJP’s Hindutva ideology.
Home Minister Amit Shah who recently visited the state has kept the target of winning 136 seats in Karnataka. BJP may not want to upset and compromise the Lingayat Vote bank by sidelining their leader.
That is why even after removing him from the CM post, BJP has tried to placate him by including him in the parliamentary board.
The threat of Vote Division
According to a report, A week before yesterday’s event, PM Modi had another event in Karnataka. This was a govt event and the invitation wasn’t extended to Yediyurappa. The leader was miffed. A few days later, during his farewell speech from Assembly, he heaped praises on Opposition leaders- Congress Siddaramaiah and JDS’ HD Deve Gowda. He also thanked RSS and vowed to continue to work for the BJP. But the mention of a bitter opponent over his own party colleagues raised eyebrows.
Last time when Yediyurappa rebelled and formed his own party in 2013, BJP suffered heavy damage in the state, and its tally was reduced by almost half.
Thus, even if the party may not want him to hold onto the key posts, it can’t even sideline him or make him politically irrelevant.
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