Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who faces charges of underhand dealings in the state’s biggest mining scam, will lead the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next Assembly election in 2018.
The strongman of the majority Lingayat community is facing a trial in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court for receiving bribes from a private mining company.
The decision to make him the face of the Karnataka BJP and perhaps its chief minister candidate was taken by a party high command that is pledged to fighting corruption.
The decision follows pressure by the Lingayat community after Yeddyurappa edged himself out of a slew of cases on illegal denotification of government land. The cases were quashed by the Karnataka High Court on procedural grounds, which the Supreme Court upheld.
In 2011, Yeddyurappa had to step down as chief minister after his name figured in a Lok Ayukta report on a Rs 3,000 crore scam in the iron-ore rich Bellary district. Apart from Yeddyurappa, party colleagues Sriramulu, Janardhana Reddy, Anand Singh and Nagendra were indicted for shipping thousands of tonnes of iron ore to China.
Yeddyurappa, who is now a Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga, will on April 14 take over of the state unit’s reins at an event the BJP plans to use to project itself as a Dalit-friendly party.
On Saturday, BJP leaders thronged Yeddyurappa’s residence in Bengaluru, calling him the only popular face of the party who could lead it in elections two years from now.
The developments were watched warily by the Congress, which has been ruling the state since 2013. “It shows their hypocrisy in appointing a person charged with corruption,” said party spokesperson Dinesh Gundu Rao.
The Congress government has been facing flak over infighting and for not providing development. “In the last three years, there were irritants… Now that is over, we have two years to showcase our performance,” Rao said.
“Yeddyurappa has time and again proven he is inevitable for the BJP. The party’s calculation is that only he can galvanise the state unit,” said Sandeep Shastri, political scientist and pro vice-chancellor at Jain University.
While some would give full marks to the BJP for starting early in the only state in the south where they stand a chance – having given up on Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – finally, it was a tainted leader that the "party with a difference" has to fall back on.
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