There are few politicians who remain a fighter till their last breath. Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa belongs to that league.
First unseated as Chief Minister on corruption charges and then virtually forced out of the BJP, the former Chief Minister is out to destroy the party which he created. In the process, BSY has himself risked his political future; from being a mass leader to a sulking individual who is on a lookout to settle scores with his detractors in the BJP.
Five years after the BJP formed its first Government in a southern State the party is facing challenge from its creator. The corruption taints on BSY is troubling his erstwhile many times more than the man himself.
On a whirlwind tour of North Karnataka region — a stronghold of lingayats — BJP chief Rajnath Singh faced some tough questions on why party remain silent on corruption of the BSY Government. BJP’s strategy to question Congress’s corruption at national level has backfired, or it looks so from here.
“We are unlike the Congress. We have a healthy tradition of asking people to quit organisational or government posts if chargesheeted in corruption case. This is the basic difference between us and the Congress. There cannot be a comparison between the two parties,” Singh told The Pioneer.
BJP’s Yeddyurappa problem is a complex case. It cannot dump a man who headed the BJP Government for more than three years. Neither can afford to own up his misdeeds.
BSY is seen as the undisputed leader of lingayats, the most influential community in Karnataka, which helped the BJP come to power.
It was the BSY’s hold over lingayat votes that helped BJP bag 11 out of 18 Assembly seats of Belgaum district.
BSY is giving nightmares to the BJP, with his potential to make inroads into the lingayat votes. Still the lack of a party structure and resources needed to provide cutting edge to his election campaign has relegated the leader to a fringe player. Chairman of Karnataka lingayat Education Society Prabhakar Kore Yeddyurappa times his moves badly.
“Then he relied on his friends in the BJP who instigated him to float a party of his own but ultimately did not join his Karnataka Janta Party. As a result, he could not get good candidates,” Kore claimed. Kore is an education baron in North Karnataka region — his trust runs more than 200 colleges in the State — and a BJP MP in Rajya Sabha. Political analysts in Karnataka claim BSY may get a maximum of 10 or 15 seats, out of total 224, but he would damage the BJP extensively.
“We would have had a smooth sail here if BSY had decided to stay back. His presence and absence makes differences, whatever it may be,” a BJP MlA here conceded.
The BJP chief if hopeful of recovering whatever ground it seemed to have lost to BSY. Incumbent Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar is a big hope for him. “He is a clean politician. The way he has ruled for the last one year has won hearts of people. The delivery mechanism of State Government schemes has improved,” Singh said.
The election campaign for May 5 poll has just begun, but BJP leaders are toiling hard to reach out to voters. Starting with the carpet bombing by lK Advani, Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj on Sunday, the BJP plans an aggressive campaign to project itself as the front runner.
“I am hopeful that BJP will emerge as the front runner to form Government after results are out,” Singh said, as he braved scorching heat to address three rallies in North Karnataka region.