The love-hate bond that took Karnataka BJP to new heights

Both Yeddyurappa and Ananth showed great political maturity to work together again when Yeddyurappa returned to BJP.

Ananth Kumar and BS Yeddyurappa 

BENGALURU: Coming together in the early 1990s, B S Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar were billed as the Ram and Lakshman of BJP who formed an ideal and inseparable pair and played a decisive role in taking the party to commanding heights in state politics which was till then dominated by Congress and the Janata Parivar.

“The duo made a contrasting combination, but proved to be very effective. While Yeddyurappa used his mass appeal, zeal for feisty agitations and the strength of his dominant Lingayat community, Ananth was shrewd, showed political acumen and displayed organisational skills,” recalled former minister and BJP leader Ramachandra Gowda.

READ | Ananth Kumar: From teenage activist to face of Karnataka in Delhi durbar

Though the much younger Ananth started his political innings under the shadow and tutelage of Yeddyurappa in 1987 when he joined BJP, his astute political sense and suave nature ensured his meteoric rise in the party. Ananth soon rose to the stature of a competitor for Yeddyurappa within the party.

A polyglot, Ananth was fluent in Kannada, English, Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil. Ananth Kumar, essaying the role of a translator in public rallies being addressed by BJP patriarch L K Advani during the Ram Mandir agitation and later in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s rallies, was a common feature in the state and the stage catapulted him directly into the party’s top brass in Delhi.  

“Our bonding was special and largely misunderstood. We worked together and built the party. He was the one who guided me ... even advising me to take up the Finance portfolio when I became the DyCM...,” Yeddyurappa said.

The party was at crossroads in the state when Yeddyurappa quit BJP and floated KJP. This put Yeddyurappa and Ananth face to face as rivals, but the two showed great political maturity to work together again when Yeddyurappa returned to BJP.

Ananth was realistic, as being a Brahmin, he could not muster the solid community backing Yeddyurappa enjoyed being a Lingayat. That compelled Ananth to settle for a bigger role in national politics and Yeddyurappa confined himself to state politics, said BJP spokesperson S Prakash.