Is Yediyurappa's 'son rise' fomenting trouble for BJP in Karnataka?

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership's decision to elevate former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to the party's core electioneering team has triggered unhappiness and murmurs of dissent in its Karnataka unit, with just weeks to go for Assembly polls.

It is understood that the crux of their problem is not the elevation of BSY, but his son Vijayendra's growing power and influence in the saffron unit.

Many in the party are seemingly unhappy with the growing influence of Vijayendra and it has been flagged to the senior BJP leadership as many believe that he was practically running the party on his father's behalf, sources said.  

Vijayendra is tipped to contest the forthcoming polls from his father's seat Shikaripura after Yediyurappa retired from active electoral politics.

Sources stated that senior leaders such as V Sommanna and Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, among a section of legislators and leaders who support Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, are found to be sulking as they feel BSY's son Vijayendra will become more influential with the new role assigned to his father.

These leaders have expressed displeasure with the senior central leadership and pointed out that when Yediyurappa was Chief Minister, his son Vijayendra was practically running the government on his father's behalf and the situation was turning eerily similar.

Somanna, a Lingayat leader who has openly been at loggerheads with Vijayendra, has even stated that he would quit the BJP if Vijayendra is given a bigger role. While senior ministers like Ashwath Narayan and CP Yogeshwar are said to be uncomfortable with the elevation of Yediyurappa.

However, putting a leash on the growing influence of BSY’s son would be very difficult for the state leaders. 

As the central leadership of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has made it amply clear that the BJP is still banking on the Lingayat strongman, BSY, to win in its southern bastion, sources said. 

Lingayat’s are electorally the most influential community in the state and the saffron unit doesn’t want to alienate its voters by seeming to be acting against Yediyurappa or his son.

Yediyurappa is considered to be the face of the BJP in Karnataka and the leader who had toiled hard over decades to establish the saffron party in its southern bastion. 

The Central leadership of the BJP had recently inducted him into the highest decision-making bodies of the saffron unit, the parliamentary board and the central election committee, giving him an overarching role in the forthcoming Assembly polls and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Karnataka’s Assembly poll outcome is expected to set the tone for 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and the BJP is treading cautiously to not antagonize BSY over complaints by these unhappy saffron leaders, sources said.

With internal surveys commissioned by the BJP predicting a shortfall of about 20 odd seats, the saffron unit is desperately trying to retain power in its southern bastion. 

The party feels that factionalism in the state unit would end up hurting the party as it did in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls recently. The BJP wants to manage rebels in Karnataka to successfully come back to power in its southern bastion, sources said.

The 224-member state Legislative Assembly is set to go to polls in the next few weeks. Karnataka is electorally an important state for both Congress and the BJP as it elects 28 MPs to the lower house of the Parliament. Of these, the BJP had secured 25 seats with one seat secured by an NDA ally in the 2019 general elections.

If the Congress is able to wrest the Assembly from the saffron unit, it can dent the BJP’s hopes to retain Karnataka's strength of seats in Lok Sabha in the 2024 polls. Holding on to Karnataka has become immensely important for the BJP with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to seek a third term in the next general elections.