MYSURU: With BS Yediyurappa resigning as chief minister, an uneasy silence gripped his native village of Bookanakere, in Mandya district. The streets and fields wore a deserted look as residents skipped their regular farming activities and were glued to television sets, tracking the day’s developments in the political corridors of Bengaluru. Residents gathered at tea stalls and street corners to know the fate of the favourite son of the village.
Though Yediyurappa had hinted that he would step down, they never lost hope and had even offered puja to the presiding deities at Gogalamma and Eshwara temples. Yediyurappa had vowed to make Bookanakere a model village.
Bookanakere comes under KR Pet Assembly constituency and as CM, Yediyurappa had given a fillip to KR Pet by bringing in several prominent taluk offices, hostels and even launched piped drinking water. Playing the native card, he had helped the BJP win KR Pet bypoll in the Vokkaliga belt, and inducted MLA Narayana Gowda into the Cabinet.
Rame Gowda, a villager, said the BJP high command should have allowed Yediyurappa to complete his full term.
“It pains to know that Yediyurappa, who had taken oath as Chief Minister four times, could not complete even one full term,” said another villager.
Yediyurappa’s ancestral house in Bookanakere had no visitors on Monday, and neither did his house in his constituency, Shikaripura.
In fact, the town in Shivamogga district wore a deserted look.Yediyurappa’s resignation evoked a protest by the people, followed by a voluntary bandh by business establishments. The people have voted for Yediyurappa seven times, and he thanked in his speech. Like their leader, the people were emotional and came out on to the streets in large numbers, shouting slogans. They expressed anguish that he had been asked to step down over his age. Buses, too, stopped plying from Shikaripura.