Yediyurappa retracts statement his son contesting Varuna seat

Yediyurappa said that Vijayendra will fight from “my constituency” (Shikaripura in Shivamogga district), so there is no question of asking him to contest from Varuna

Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was unhappy over parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa announcing his son’s candidature against former chief minister Siddaramaiah, said the BJP functionaries in the know of the development. The former BJP chief minister retracting his statement on Friday night was the result of instructions from the high command, the leaders added.

BS Yediyurappa

In a turnaround, Yediyurappa on Friday ruled out his son Vijayendra being fielded from Varuna constituency to take on Congress leader Siddaramaiah and said he would fight the election from Shikaripura.

Addressing reporters, he said: “There is already pressure to field Vijayendra from Varuna, but I have said it long back though there is pressure from Varuna, he should contest from Shikaripura. So, there is no question of Vijayendra contesting from Varuna for whatsoever reason.”

Yediyurappa added that Vijayendra will fight from “my constituency” (Shikaripura in Shivamogga district), so there is no question of asking him to contest from Varuna.

To a question on Vijayendra’s statement that the BJP has got its own strength and he would abide by the party’s decision, Yediyurappa said: “His statement is correct but I am saying that he will contest from Shikaripura. I will convey this to the party high command and Vijayendra. There is no question of him contesting from Varuna in Mysuru.”

Yediyurappa is the sitting MLA from Shikaripura, and has already announced his retirement from electoral politics. Assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on May 10.

Yediyurappa had on Thursday raised expectations of a high-voltage fight between Vijayendra and Siddaramaiah by not ruling out the possibility of his son throwing his hat in the ring in Varuna. Varuna in Mysuru district has become among the key seats to watch out for as Siddaramaiah, the Congress legislature party leader and former Chief Minister, is set to enter the fray in this segment, currently represented by his son Yathindra.

Yediyurappa retracted the statement even as the senior party leaders were claiming such a move was possible. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and BJP statement president Nalin Kateel on Friday evening said that the party will discuss and take a decision. However, within hours, Yediyurappa backtracked on the decision.

“There was already disgruntlement within the party over him announcing his son as the successor from his seat. The party’s high command found it difficult to ease the tensions on both sides, especially, the RSS supporters in BJP. So, when he made the statement it didn’t sit with the party and over a phone call he was asked to take it back. Afterall there is a system in the party, decisions can’t be taken like this,” said a legislator who didn’t want to be named.

Last year, Yediyurappa announced his political retirement. He even announced Vijayendra as the BJP candidate from Shikaripura, a seat Yediyurappa has represented eight times since 1983. The next day, Yediyurappa clarified that the party central leadership will decide on Vijayendra’s ticket.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, Vijayendra was denied the ticket to contest from Varuna against the then chief minister Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra. Since then, Vijayendra carved a niche for himself by engineering BJP’s victories in constituencies old Mysuru region, under which Varuna comes.

According to estimates, Varuna has 55,000 Lingayats, 12,000 Vokkaligas, 35,000 Kurubas, 43,000 Scheduled Castes, 23,000 Scheduled Tribes and 12,000 OBCs. While the Kurubas, SC, ST and OBCs are traditional Congress vote banks, the BJP enjoys the backing of the Lingayats and the JD(S) has the support of the Vokkaliags.

Commenting about Yediyurappa’s statement, Siddaramaiah told reporters at the Congress office that he was not bothered about the candidate who would contest against him. Congress state president D K Shivakumar who was also present quipped that his party would welcome it if Yediyurappa himself decided to contest from Varuna.