The three-day visit of BJP’s national general secretary, Arun Singh, to Bengaluru to sort out the disquiet in the party under chief minister B S Yediyurappa last week proved a damp squib at least for the Lingayat leader’s detractors.
Singh asserted that “there are no differences in the party and we are united. A commendable work is being done under Chief Minister Yediyurappa’s leadership.” This was no different from what he had said before the visit, and he confirmed that the Chief Minister would complete his tenure.
Yediyurappa’s critics including MLAs Arvind Ballad, B Yatnal and H Vishwanath, found little support from Singh with the latter even declining to meet some of them. Yatnal, the CM’s staunch detractor took to social media to say he had not sought an appointment with the Central observer.
For the Chief Minister, the visit was a welcome development. Despite his age being a constraining factor, his upbeat mood was evident from the state government’s advertisements in some local English dailies during Singh’ s visit. These detailed steps taken by the government to control the Covid-19 pandemic besides claiming that it had attracted investment proposals worth Rs 17,000 crore in April and May this year. The Covid control efforts of the government were also acknowledged publicly by the central observer.
Significantly, one of the advertisements summed up Yediyurappa’s mood, using as it did a quote from American author, Louis L’Amour. “There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.”
The government went on to claim that “while many windows had closed around the world, the pandemic threw open doors of a new beginning, a new way of life in Karnataka too, when it was dark enough.” The messages were seen as an attempt to undermine critics who were claiming that at 78, the chief minister had become too old to govern effectively.
Singh’s visit, incidentally, did not go down too well with the CM’s detractors as they took objection to his remark in New Delhi earlier that “Yediyurappa would complete his term.” According to them, this was not required from an observer who appeared to have made up his mind even before visiting the state capital for discussions with them and other MLAs.
The deliberations of the three days clearly indicated that those against the CM were not able to convince the party observer. So much so that at the conclusion of the state core committee meeting, the observer said “the party would take action against those who are working against it,” while adding that there were “only two or three people who are damaging the party and they would be warned.” This reportedly is the gist of his report to the party president.
The observer may also have been peeved that his request to legislators to refrain from airing their grievance in public and, instead, to talk to state party leaders, was ignored. H Vishwanath, an aspirant for a ministerial berth, in Yedyurappa’s cabinet told newsmen that the ageing chief minister’s faculties were not as sharp as before and, therefore , it was time for the party’s central leadership to appoint another Lingayat in his place.
In addition, the legislator charged the Yedyurappa government with encouraging corruption citing a tender for a major irrigation project, involving an expenditure of over Rs 21,000 crore. He also alleged that the interference of Yediyurappa’s family in the affairs of the government had become too common.
This was unacceptable, he said, because it was to protest against such interference that he had left the JDS despite being its state president. Vishwanath was one of the 17 MLAs who toppled the JDS-Congress coalition government by switching over to the BJP.
Current developments apart, the state BJP does realise that while for now its ageing CM has got the much-needed respite, several factors account for his continuation at the helm, starting with the Covid pandemic. The party high command does not want to disturb the present arrangement as it would like him to tackle the pandemic on priority.
The BJP is also aware that, for the present, there is no immediate replacement available for the Lingayat chief minister. Even though there are several aspirants, the TINA factor hangs heavily in Yediyurappa’s favour. The high command is conscious of the clout that Yediyurappa wields within his community and its powerful seers, with the latter even going public recently by voicing their support for him as the chief minister.
Last week, a dozen Lingayat seers, under the aegis of Shri Shadkshara Bruhanmatha spoke out in favour of Yediyurappa, saying it was because of him that the BJP had managed to get a foothold in Karnataka. They cited the example of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi, who had functioned while wheelchair bound, to say that associating age with performance “is nothing but an insult to a leader who has been relentlessly working for the party.”
Further, the powerful Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha President, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, a Congress MLA to boot, came out in support of Yediyurappa and his continuation as CM.
It is, therefore, apparent that the central leadership of the party had few options in the matter. It is precisely for this reason that the comments of a senior minister in the Karnataka government assume importance. He told this writer that the party’s leadership would do well to prepare in advance about Yediyurappa’s future, and do so without antagonising his powerful Lingayat community, the BJP’s major vote bank. This decision could not be postponed indefinitely as the party has to prepare for assembly elections in two years’ time.
Another issue of importance which may have helped Yediyurappa is that after the party’s defeat in West Bengal, the BJP is facing discored in various other states. As such, the party would not like to rock the boat in Karnataka now.
Under the circumstances, Yediyurappa can thank his stars for the breathing space he has got, with the party’s high command believing firmly that this is not the right time for any action. More so as Karnataka is a key to the BJP’s ambitions in the south.
The writer is The Statesman’s Bengaluru-based Special Representative.