Karnataka’s BJP Chief Ministership feels assured of power in the next two elections
On a well-remembered January 26 morning, BS Yediruppa had hoisted the national flag in his constituency, Hikaripura, and famously declared, “Next time I won’t be here to do it as I will have to hoist the national flag at the Manekshaw Parade Ground in Bengaluru as the Chief Minister.” HD Deve Gowda had indeed promised him the Chief Ministership. But, when the year passed and he still had not made it to the coveted chair, the Karnataka BJP leader faced ridicule for his public pronouncement of his ambition. Eventually, Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (S) did extend support, helping him to attain the Chief Ministership. But the Yediruppa government lasted only a week and President’s Rule was imposed in Karnataka.
In the Assembly elections that followed, Yediruppa strode to power with a clear mandate and his prophesy of hoisting the Tricolour at the Manekshaw Parade Ground was finally fulfilled.
In hindsight, his rise (see box) had been sure and steady. But the superstitious Yediruppa attributes it to the sprawling bungalow in front of the Bangalore Turf Club that he was allotted as the seniormost member of the Assembly. He believes the bungalow is auspicious. As its occupant, he not only regained his position as Leader of the Opposition but went on to become Finance Minister which was the stepping stone to becoming Deputy Chief Minister and thereafter Chief Minister. Once he became CM, he did not shift to the official residence of the CM – Anugraha. The reason was something he does not admit – Anugraha is believed to have some vaastu dosh.
After becoming CM, he changed his name from Yediurappa to Yediruppa on the advice of his astrologer. His name now has nine letters.
But his faith in luck and astrology belies his otherwise unshakeable confidence that his government cannot be toppled, nor is any party or combination of political groups in a position to defeat him for at least the next two Assembly elections. In the last Assembly election he trounced his rival, former Karnataka Chief Minister S Bangarappa who is now trying hard to regain the base he once enjoyed in the state. But, for the second time within a year, Bangarappa was defeated by Yediruppa’s son, Raghavendra, in the last general election.
When Gujarat CM Narendra Modi hastened to ban Jaswant Singh’s controversial book, Yediruppa sprang a surprise by indicating he would not follow suit.
Yet, the CM’s popularity waxes and wanes. He earned the public’s wrath after his government axed nearly 3,000 trees in the name of widening Bengaluru’s roads and the proposed Metro rail project. He is held responsible for denuding the garden city of its greenery and taking a grossly anti-environment step. Unfazed, Yediruppa maintains that the cutting of the trees was “the need of the hour as there was no other alternative.”
The widower CM has also been under a shroud of suspicion over the death of his wife, Maitreyee Devi. She was the daughter of the owner of a rice mill in Shimoga where Yediruppa worked briefly. Her mysterious death – she was said to have fallen into a sump (an underground water tank) in their Vinoba Nagar house and drowned on October 16, 2004 – led to intense speculation. A new criminal complaint filed in a First Class Judicial Magistrate’s court in Shimoga in February is pending against him. The original complaint, filed by one HV Manjunath, said Maitreyee Devi died after she fell into a sump. Another complaint, filed by a Seshadri, alleged that Yediruppa had assaulted her.
Suspicion was fuelled by Yediruppa’s going on a pilgrimage-cum-holiday with Shobha Karandlaje, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, very soon after his wife’s death. Karandlaje briefs the media about Cabinet meetings chaired by the Chief Minister, to the chagrin of other Ministers.
As a Lingayat, Yediruppa is accepted by all communities in Karnataka. He handles communal issues with an iron hand and has always championed the cause of farmers. After a recent visit to China, he has been advocating the two-child principle.
Yediruppa is also known as the mentor of senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar, but the truth is that the CM knows only Kannada and Ananth Kumar translates for him. However, the latter has ambitions of his own and has been accused of trying to weaken Yediruppa for personal political gain.
Yediruppa was also affected by Deve Gowda’s disclosure that the BJP leader had approached him in 2004-05 and said he would not mind quitting the BJP in return for Janata Dal (S) support for becoming CM.
But his faith in luck and astrology belies his otherwise unshakeable confidence that his government cannot be toppled, nor is any party or combination of political groups in a position to defeat him for at least the next two Assembly elections
As a Lingayat, Yediruppa is accepted by all communities in Karnataka. He handles communal issues with an iron hand and has always championed the cause of farmers
The rise of Yediruppa
• February 27, 1943 – born in Mandya district.
• 1965 – went to Shimoga to work for the RSS. He had already grown close to the RSS by the time he graduated in Bengaluru.
• 1970-1972 – was a Sangh Karwaha.
• 1972 – entered public life by becoming taluk president of the then Jana Sangh in Shikaripur. Earned a pro-farmer image. His 45-day incarceration in the Shimoga and Bellary prisons during the Emergency was a turning point in his career.
• 1983 – entered the Karnataka Assembly.
• 1985 – elected BJP president for Shimoga district. Elected to Assembly second time.
• 1988 – became state BJP president.
• 1989 – elected to Assembly third time.
• 1994 – became Leader of the Opposition.
• 2000-2004 – member of the Legislative Council.
• 2004 – elected to Assembly fourth time. Became Leader of the Opposition again.
