When the tallest leader in a political party quits and floats a new one in vengeance, there is rarely a good comeback. But if the mass appeal of the disgruntled leader is formidable, you get to see not just a “ghar wapsi” (homecoming), but also his anointment as the party president and the chief ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka.
Bookankere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa (74) was named the party president by BJP national president Amit Shah in April 2016, to lead the saffron party in the 2018 assembly polls. After all, it was under Yeddyurappa that the party bagged 110 out of 224 seats in 2008, to form the first BJP government in south India.
It was not long ago that a disgruntled Yeddyurappa floated the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) that eventually lead to the split in BJP votes and BJP endured a humiliating defeat by bagging only 40 seats in 2013. But all that is now history.
On July 31, 2011, Yeddyurappa was forced to quit as CM by the party leadership after the Karnataka Lokayukta investigating the illegal mining case indicted Yeddyurappa for illegally profiteering from land deals in Bangalore and Shimoga. He also faced corruption charges in the illegal iron ore export scam in Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga. In November 2012, he quit the BJP to float the KJP. Though he won the Shikaripura seat on KJP ticket in 2013, KJP bagged only six seats and BJP had been reduced to only 40 seats. Yeddyurappa came back into BJP's fold just before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. A united BJP (with splinters KJP and BSR Congress) succeeded in once again consolidating its vote share and got 17 out of 28 seats. But the era of dissidence fostered during the KJP experiment has created permanent fissures in the saffron party.
While many names keep floating as CM probables, including North Canara MP Ananthkumar Hegde (especially after he was sworn as union minister recently) or RSS leader B.L. Santosh (after Yogi Adityanath was made UP CM). But the fact remains that BJP has no leader to match Yeddyurappa's stature.
For now, Yeddyurappa who has set out on “Parivartana Yatre” (rally for transformation) is hoping to replicate the electoral success of 2008. He continues to strike a chord with the people as the response to the rally indicates. But can he take on the ruling Congress Party headed by a strong local leader and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah?
Strangely, both leaders have many similarities. If Yeddyurapa is the BJP's best bet as he belongs to a politically and numerically strong community (Lingayats), his mass appeal and pro-farmer, populist approach (Bhagyalakshmi scheme for girl child), bicycles for schoolchildren, Bhoochethana and Suvarna bhoomi schemes fro farmers, huge dole-out to religious institutions) and good governance as the chief minister (till the corruption taint dethroned him), have worked to his advantage.
On the other hand, Siddaramaiah too joined the Congress party in 2007 after quitting Janata Dal (Secular) and emerged as the Congress's best bet for CM. As a Kuruba strongman (third largest community after Lingayat and Vokkaliga), his successful social-engineering experiment of consolidating the “Ahinda” (minorities, backward classes and dalits) votes resurrected his sinking political career.
Today, the challenge for Yeddyurappa is the Lingayat movement that demands a separate religion tag and minority status—an agitation suspected to be a political masterstroke of the Congress Party to divide the Lingayats—the traditional vote bank of the BJP. But Yeddyurappa's good equation with his community and the religious heads seems to have slowed down the agitation for the time being.
Within the party too, where Yeddyurappa has been battling dissidence, there is an unsual lull. Last May, it was K.S. Eshwarappa, a Kuruba leader from Yeddyurappa's own district—Shimoga, who raised the banner of revolt by floating Sangolli Rayanna Brigade to consolidate the backward classes votes. This exposed the many factions within the saffron party. However, timely intervention of the central leaders saved the day for the party that was reduced to just 40 seats in the last assembly polls owing to infighting (which also saw three chief ministers within a span of five years).
Despite the corruption charges, his popularity continues to soar high. While he won the Shikaripura seat even on a KJP ticket, he won the Shimoga parliament seat in 2014 (after rejoining BJP) by a huge margin of 3,65,305 votes. The Karnataka High Court, setting aside the sanction for prosecution of Yeddyurappa in illegal land denotification cases and the special Lokayukta court striking down four other FIRs against him, has given him a breather too. For now, the man from the RSS stables, a farmer leader, six-time MLA, a former chief minister has a daunting task ahead—of reclaiming Karnataka.
