BENGALURU: The BJP, which had unceremoniously removed BS Yediyurappa from the CM’s post in July 2021, and paid the price for it in the 2023 Assembly polls, is planning to bring the Veerashaiva Lingayat strongman back into the limelight.
The party is organising a big-ticket rally in the first week of May in Chitradurga. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to take part in the event, an initiative taken up by Yediyurappa’s son and BJP state president BY Vijayendra, according to sources. The event will mark 50 years of Yediyurappa’s political career. There is a plan to rope in Central leaders and heads of religious institutions, and mobilise not less than five lakh people from across the state.
Senior leader Prabhakar Kore has been appointed reception committee chief, with Chitradurga MP Govind Karjol as honorary president and former minister B Sriramulu as working president.
The BJP hopes to capitalise on BSY’s mass appeal once again to polarise the Veerashaiva Lingayat community votes ahead of upcoming elections. Yediyurappa is also keen to actively participate in the party’s organisation as son Vijayendra is a contender for the CM’s post if the party comes to power.
With anti-incumbency ripples against the Congress government, and the tussle between Siddaramaiaah and DK Shivakumar continuing, the BJP feels Yediyurappa’s entry as an effective ‘opposition leader’ outside the Assembly will pay rich dividends, say political analysts.