Yediyurappa’s back! BJP veteran plans state tour after Covid decline

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

After a lull, former chief minister B.S.Yediyurappa is planning to hit the road from the first week of March as part of his efforts to strengthen the BJP across the state.

“The prominent Lingayat leader is waiting for Corona cases to come down. Then he will go on a statewide tour to build the saffron party ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls”, sources close to him told News Trail.

The last time the former CM hit the campaign trail was during elections to the Legislative Council from the local bodies in December last year. Before that, the BJP won the Sindagi seat while the Hangal seat went in favour of the Congress during the Assembly byelections. This happened despite a joint campaign by Yediyurappa and his ‘shishya’ and incumbent CM Basavaraj Bommai for at least one week in both constituencies.

Yediyurappa has been waiting to go on a tour of all 224 Assembly constituencies for some time but it was deferred at the instance of the high command which asked him to take other state leaders along with him before embarking on the tour. In the meantime, the third wave of the pandemic forced the Shikaripura MLA to put off the tour due to the curbs imposed by the government on rallies, processions and political yatras in order to check the spread of the virus.

The high command has categorically stated that it does not have any problem if Yediyurappa goes on a state tour. The BJP National General Secretary and In-Charge of Karnataka, Arun Singh has asked state leaders to accompany Yediyurappa whenever he goes on the tour keeping in view the 2023 Assembly polls.

The sources said it is important for the Lingayat leader to prove his strength especially in Kalyana Karnataka, Kittur Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka and Madhya Karnataka despite stepping down from the CM’s post six months ago. Yediyurappa does not want to go into political oblivion like other leaders of his age and wants to prove that he is still a force to reckon with. Besides, he had to ensure a proper future for his son, B.Y. Vijayendra in state politics.

Another son , B.Y.Raghavendra has strengthened his roots in Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2018 Assembly polls, Vijayendra was all set to contest from Varuna Assembly constituency in Mysuru district but the idea was dropped at the last minute due to political compulsions.

Yediyurappa, during his visit to Davangere on Sunday, had said his aim is to ensure the BJP wins 130 seats in the 2023 Assembly elections and retain power. He had also clarified that his contesting from Shikaripura was something the high command has to decide on.