BS Yeddyurappa's fate hangs on Karnataka polls

New Delhi: As the curtain came down on the electioneering in Karnataka, which went to polls on Saturday to elect its next government, May 15 will reveal whether the Congress will retain power in Karnataka or voters really went for BJP’s poll slogan “Sarkara badalisi, BJP gellisi” or former prime minister HD Deve Gowda led JD(S) would emerge as the “Kingmaker”.

However, more than the BJP, which is sounding confident of coming back to power in this southern state, it is its chief ministerial candidate and the Lingayat strongman, B.S. Yeddyurappa, that the poll results will have a major impact.

Known for his “Napoleonic memory” and oratory skills, Mr Yeddyurappa is considered as the saffron party’s tallest leader in Karnataka. A win or loss for the BJP in Karnataka would also impact its performance in this southern state in 2019 when the country will decide who will head the power at the Centre. But more, it will also decided the political future of Mr Yeddyurappa, who has faced many battles, both from within and outside the party. Despite attaining the BJP’s unofficial age bar, it was Mr Yeddyurappa’s influence among the numerically dominant Lingayat community and his organisational skills, forced the BJP leadership to name him the chief ministerial candidate. Though the BJP leadership asserted many times that Mr Yeddyurappa will be the chief minister for the full term, rumours had started that if BJP forms the government, he could meet the same fate as former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel who had to resign after attaining the age bar. Denial of tickets to his second son Vijayendra and his close confidante and Lok Sabha MP, Shobha Karandlaje were seen as a setback for the former chief minister.

Even Mr Yeddyurappa’s political opponents agree that he is the tallest Lingayat leader in the state. However, he has been facing battles from within his own party since 2013, when he headed the first BJP government in the state.  But many in the party now feel that his “charisma” had started diminishing ever since he faced the corruption allegations, went to jail and quit the BJP, though he later rejoined the saffron party.

Mr Yeddyuarappa is perhaps the only BJP leader in the state, who visited almost all the villages during campaigning to garner support for himself and the BJP.

Perhaps it was Mr Yeddyuappa’s hold over the Lingayat community that the Congress tried to play the Lingayat card by proposing a separate religious minority status to the community.