The added power of BJP has begun showing with former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and B Y Vijayendra falling in line
The massive BJP wins in Uttar Pradesh and a handful of other states that went to the polls a few days ago has provided the saffron outfit to get even more powerful. The new found aggressive stance has begun showing in Karnataka, where the party is in power.
Feeling the heat is former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his younger son B Y Vijayendra, who have been proving to be pinpricks for the BJP leadership. Now with the stronger emergence of the party in UP and elsewhere, the father-son duo has mellowed down, and have decided to play supporting roles in the state unit of the party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is striving to retain power in Karnataka in next year’s Assembly polls. And with the UP example set, the party is more confident than ever, and hopes to stamp its supremacy in Karnataka, the only South Indian state where it has a considerable presence.
Karnataka BJP sees Vijayendra shifting stance
The party’s added strength and power was in full play this Sunday, when Yeddyurappa’s son Vijayendra declared that he was no longer interested in becoming a minister in the BJP cabinet in Karnataka. This comes as a major U-turn, as Vijayendra had in the recent past lobbied with the top leadership of the party in Delhi for securing a slot in Karanataka’s Basavaraj Bommai government. Vijayendra, incidentally, is a vice-president of the BJP in Karantaka region. He had been in Delhi last week looking to convince the leadership for pocketing a ministerial berth in Bommai’s Cabinet.
As things have changed, Vjiayendra has also decided it would be best to stay low. He has even made it known that he would fall in line with the party’s plans to ensure victory in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.
On Sunday, the Karnataka BJP Vice president also made it known to the media that he would not exert pressure on the leadership to induct him into the state Cabinet. He also stated that he was in Delhi not to lobby for a ministerial berth but to discuss organisational issues.
The mellowing down of two heavyweights
Not just that, Vijayendra has also made it known to the party to brass that he would not push for his candidate as BJP chief in the state. The BJP unit in Karnataka might go through an overhaul ahead of the Assembly elections.
This mellowing down of the fiery Vijayendra needs to be seen in the wake of BJP’s election victories in the north. This softening of stance coming from Yeddyurappa’s son, who was often referred to as Super CM when his father was the Chief Minister of Karnataka is a point to be noted. This also displays to full measure the way the BJP has asserted itself after the poll victory in UP.