Uncertainty grows over BSY’s future as old cases resurface

Bengaluru Despite the assurances made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on continuing with BS Yediyurappa as the chief minister of Karnataka is yet to have any bearing on the stability of the two-year-old government whose future remains under a cloud of uncertainty

Bengaluru Despite the assurances made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on continuing with BS Yediyurappa as the chief minister of Karnataka is yet to have any bearing on the stability of the two-year-old government whose future remains under a cloud of uncertainty.

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With Yediyurappa’s past actions like his alleged involvement in the land denotification scam among othersreturning to haunt the 78-year-old and growing allegations of corruption and impropriety against him and his family, people aware of the developments said that it is just a “matter of time” before the central leadership initiates measures to replace him.

On Saturday, a special court in Bengaluru dismissed a ‘B’ Report filed by the Lokayukta police seeking the closure of over a 15-year-old investigation against Yediyurappa in a land denotification case- a reason why the latter was asked to step down at least once in his four stints at the top chair. The legal setback dates back to 2006 when Yediyurappa was the Deputy CM .

People aware of the developments said that Yediyurappa is likely to budge on condition that his son--or sons--are placated. A senior Union minister said on condition of anonymity that while a final decision has not been taken, his son BY Raghavendra is likely to be accommodated in the union cabinet reshuffle being planned in Delhi as part of the process. Raghavendra is the MP from Shivamogga, the home district of Yediyurappa. However, there are no guarantees on the other son, BY Vijayendra, who is currently the state BJP vice president and nurses ambition to take over the reins of his father and wants to be seen as the natural heir as a leader of the dominant Lingayat community, people aware of the developments said.

While it remains to be seen if BJP can strike a deal to get Yediyurappa to step down on his own to cause least amount of collateral damage, the possibility has already bolstered the principal opposition, Congress, to make their move.

Yediyurappa’s purported removal from the top post has fueled speculation that a section of the turncoats, who defected from the HD Kumaraswamy government, are likely to make their way back into their parent parties (JD(S) and Congress) before the assembly elections in 2023. People aware of the developments said that this helps Yediyurappa retain his bargaining power to keep him in the top chair for the next two years and their possible return to the Congress could help Siddaramaiah muster enough support to back him as the chief ministerial face, if Congress returns to power.

Hinting at rolling out a red carpet for the defactors, state Congress president on Saturday had even said that the party was open to welcome all those who identified with its ideology.

Taking a dig at the chief minister, Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that Yediyurappa, all PAs of ministers and BY Vijayendra were out to “loot” the state.

AH Vishwanath, one of the 17 members who did defect to the BJP on Sunday said that he appreciated a “clever and astute” Shivakumar but added that “it was not like they (turncoats) would go back tomorrow itself.”

Vishwanath was the president of the JD(S) when he defected and shares a turbulent relationship with both Yediyurappa and Siddaramaiah.

But the attacks on Yediyurappa have come from within his own government.

“What has happened is that despite us coming to power, the opposition parties influence is more is what I have said repeatedly to the chief minister. The reservation for the Zilla and taluk Panchayati election is done like what Kumaraswamy and the opposition parties wanted and not by the government,” CP Yogeshwara, Karnataka’s minister for tourism, environment and ecology said on Sunday.

“I cant keep telling you our pain but we are undergoing torture. They have distributed and categorized it according to their (oppositions) convenience. How can we compete? Despite the BJP being in power, we have been unable to give social justice and it pains me,” he said.

Yogeshwara has maintained that Yediyurappa has used his working relationship with Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowda, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah to keep the BJP at bay and serve his own interests to remain in power.

At least for the last two decades, Yediyurappa, Gowda and Siddaramaiah have controlled the political narrative in Karnataka and have resisted any attempts by the high commands of both national parties to take control over the southern state, Hindustan Times had reported on May 28.

. The Yediyurappa government on Thursday faced further embarrassment when Karnataka social welfare minister B Sriramulu’s close acquaintance Rajanna was arrested following a complaint by Vijayendra who accused him of misusing the latter’s name and taking money in return to land government jobs.

The arrest has fueled speculation of a growing rift within the Yediyurappa-led government and his cabinet, wherein the minister claimed to have become aware of the developments only through media reports.

In the last two months, at least four BJP legislators have made serious charges against Yediyurappa and his son including the “sex-for-job” scandal on Ramesh Jarkiholi, “bribe-for-bed scam” against Satish Reddy, allegations of taking cuts from private hospitals for vaccination against Ravi Subramanya and one (Arvind Bellad) who suspected that his phone was being tapped.

The developments involving Sriramulu only added to growing allegations of corruption against the Yediyurappa-led government.

Other than this, a complaint has also been registered against Karnataka mines and geology minister, Murugesh Nirani’s son, Vijay, for alleged violations in his sugar factory.

The complaint was filed by a Congress worker and Vijay termed it “politically motivated”. “Our company is not involved in cheating or any wrongdoing. We have paid all the dues including salary to workers in time and payment also made to farmers as per the rules. We have been functioning and carrying out all our transactions as per the law and there is no question of any violation,” Vijay Nirani clarified in a statement on Sunday. He even warned Dr HN Ravindra, the Congress functionary, of legal action if the latter does not apologise for making baseless and false allegations.

Murugesh Nirani is from the Panchamasali sect, the largest sub-sect within the Lingayats, and whose name has been mooted as a possible replacement to Yediyurappa by his own partymen.

Political analysts said that the BJP may not have the same attraction for the 17 turncoats as it did two years ago, largely because their attachment to the BJP has been routed through Yediyurappa.

“We dont quite know if in the next round (elections) the BJP will bypass Yediyurappa,” said Bengaluru-based political analyst, requesting not to be named.

Yediyurappa had to personally convince his own party aspirants to back the turncoats before the December 2019 assembly bypolls, antagonizing several influential local leaders who had in the 2018 elections worked to defeat candidates who later defected into the BJP.

In Maski, Basanagouda Turvihal, who was with BJP lost by a slender margin of 213 votes in 2018, fought on a Congress ticket in the April bypolls to defeat Pratapgouda Patil, one of the turncoats.

Similarly, the BJP had lent a hand to ensure victories of turncoats like Dr K Sudhakar, BC Patil, Shivaram Hebbar, Byrathi Basvaraj among others in December 2019, denying most of the candidates an opportunity to claim it on their own.