POINT OUT February 2014 Edition

The Y- Factor of Karnataka
Will the return of
BS Yeddyurappa
into the BJP fold
be the game changer
in the state?
» VIJAY GROVER
Exactly 14 months after he left the
BJP, B S Yeddyurappa was back in
the party on January 2, signaling the
end of his “14-month Vanvaas”. A
delegation led by arch-foe and senior leader
Ananth Kumar and Eshwarappa called
upon him and requested the Karnataka Janata
Paksha (KJP) president BSY to merge
his fledgling unit with the BJP.
The bonhomie was visible as Yeddy’s
aides and BJP leaders were more than
happy at the development at a five-star
hotel in Bangalore. For months, Yeddyurappa
had been eager to get back in
to the BJP fold but strong opposition by
the party patriarch Lal Krishna Advani
had delayed the re-entry. Pressures from
within the BJP state unit found an ear
with the PM aspirant Narendra Modi,
making backdoor intervention that
paved the way for BSY’s return to the
party. The brave public posturing by Yeddyurappa,
of not merging his party with
the BJP may only have been a bargaining
tool for the Lingayat leader.
Still, the battle of wits was clearly won
by Yeddyurappa on the strength of his
ability to keep his vote bank intact in the
last assembly elections. And the public
statements of supporting “Modi for PM”
finally paved the way for his re-entry. “I
have joined without any preconditions
and it is my dream to see Modi as the
Prime Minister, and that is the reason
why I have joined the BJP,” said Yeddyurappa,
while talking to Point Out.
But, the truth is that several rounds of
negotiations and backdoor talks between
Yeddyurappa and many of his ex-BJP colleagues
finally brought about the truce.
The first one being that the post of the
leader of opposition in the state assembly
would be offered to Yeddyurappa as
with him and his four MLAs’ re-entry,
the BJP will now emerge as the principal
opposition party, upstaging the Janata
Dal (Secular), whose leader H D Kumaraswamy,
will now have to make way for
Yeddyurappa.
The question, however, on top of
every mind is whether the re-entry of
Yeddyurappa will be the game changer
for BJP in Karnataka? “No, I do not think
that the Yeddyurappa factor will work for
the BJP. The same man who was shown
the door by the party is now being given
a red-carpet welcome. What will the
BJP tell the voters about its fight against
corruption?” asks Danish Ali, national
general secretary, Janata Dal (Secular). A
sentiment that the Congress too echoes
in Karnataka.
“The BJP got 20% votes, it thinks
that Yeddyurappa’s 10% vote share will
The question, however, on top of
every mind is whether the re-entry
of Yeddyurappa will be the game
changer for BJP in Karnataka?
COURTESY: KJPKARNATAKA.ORG
» In November 2012, Yeddyurappa resigned from Karnataka Assembly. He wade
through his supporters to submit his resignation to Speaker (File photo)
add to it and give it more than 30% votes
and some seats in the state. But the BJP
should remember that polls are not just
always an arithmetic of the vote share.
The chemistry between the BJP and Yeddyurappa
is no more the same as before
and he may not be accepted as their leader
by several BJP leaders and workers,”
says R Roshan Baig, Information Minister
in the Siddharamaiah government.
Even Yeddyurappa knows and understands
well that he has to prove himself
once again to the people of the state and
also to the very party that he brought to
power in 2009 in the state. “I will tour
the state the next three months and will
try and win 20 out of 28 seats in the Lok
Sabha,” says Yeddyurappa. But he himself
realizes that the task is herculean and that
he will need to do the same for safeguarding
his own future and also of his loyalists
who have stood by him through the
turbulent times.
Will the Modi magic save Yeddyurappa
in 2014 general elections or will
Yeddyurappa have to weave it on his own
to fulfill the dream which forced him to
return to BJP?
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