BS Yediyurappa on rampage mode in Karnataka, rebellion within BJP

BENGALURU: Former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is reportedly on a rampage at a time when the party is on the brink of LS poll battle. The former chief minister has now regained back his lost sheen and has morphed into a 'decisive force' in selecting candidates for the upcoming elections.

Former Chief Minister and former Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, former Minister CT Ravi, former Deputy Chief Minister KS Eswarappa, former State President Nalin Kumar Kattil and Mysuru MP Pratap, who are close to BJP National General Secretary BL Santosh were denied seats in the elections by Yediyurappa led team, which kickstarted a rebellion within the party.

B L Santhosh during the last assembly elections had denied seats to Lingayat leaders like Laxman Savadi, Jagadish Shettar and others who were very close to Yediyurappa. Instead, 72 freshman candidates were fielded, but all of them lost. It is rumoured that Sadananda Gowda will contest as a Congress candidate in Mysuru. Nalin Kumar Kattil, who was a three-time Mangaluru MP, was denied a seat. There is also a complaint about KS Eswarappa's son KE Kantesh being denied a seat. Kantesh is currently MLC.

Earlier, B L Santhosh had fielded his confidante Pratap Simha from Mysuru. However now, with a total overhaul in place, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, a member of the royal family of Mysore, will contest the elections for BJP after Simha’s name got linked with the colour smoke bomb attack inside the parliament.

Yeddyurappa's son Vijayendra is the BJP state president. Another son Raghavendra was also given the Shimoga seat. With his close aid GM Siddheswara facing health issues, Yediyurappa has decided to field Siddheswara’s wife Gayatri in the upcoming elections. All this has created a rift within factions in the Karnataka BJP.

The mainspring for the current discord hails from the tensions simmering between the Brahmin lobby and the backward Lingayat community. Yediyurappa is a prominent Lingayat leader. Lingayats are also the largest caste group in the state. BL Santosh is the leader of the Brahmin lobby. The Yediyurappa faction alleges that it was the handiwork of B L Santhosh who through his power politics took down Yediyurappa from power and installed Basavaraj Bommai as the Chief Minister of the state. Lingayat leaders including Jagadish Shettar were denied seats which many believe was Santhosh’s vengeance act to completely eradicate the dominance of Yediyurappa from Karnataka.