New Delhi: Karnataka Congress MLA Priyank Kharge said that the BJP has no credible image in the southern state so they have again "started holding hands" with BS Yeddyurappa.

The MLA said that Yeddyurappa was forced to quit rather than prepare to retire.

"BS Yeddyurappa (BSY) did not intend to retire, but he did so to create a BJP without BSY. They resumed walking around holding hands with Yeddyurappa after realising that the BJP has no viable leader.  "If he (Yeddyurappa) really has potential, why don't they (the BJP) grant him a ticket?" he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership is depending on the skills and support of influential Lingayat leader and former chief minister Yediyurappa to win the next Assembly elections in Karnataka. The single largest community in Karnataka, Lingayats make up approximately 17% of the total population and are primarily concentrated in the north of the state. They have historically supported the BJP.

The former Karnataka CM was appointed to the parliamentary board, the party's top decision-making body, as part of the organisational changes made last year in August 2022. Political experts consider his inclusion in the parliamentary board as reflecting the strategy of the party's central leadership as depending on Yediyurappa to win the next Assembly elections.

"When the party decided to ask BSY to step aside last year, he did so without any fuss and has taken every role that the organisation has assigned to him. That's the sign of an experienced politician, according to another figure.

It should be mentioned that the BJP party strategically sent BSY to Gujarat to serve as a key observer for choosing the leader of the parliamentary party in the recently successful state of Gujarat. As central observers for the gathering of the party's new MLAs in Gujarat to elect the next chief minister, senior BJP figures Rajnath Singh, B S Yediyurappa, and Arjun Munda were chosen.

His inclusion on the BJP parliamentary board makes sense, according to a BJP MP from the region, because of his practicality and astute political judgement, which can benefit the party throughout all of southern India.

There are several rumours that the seasoned politician wants his younger son BY Vijayendra to run in the forthcoming state elections from his own district, Shikaripura. The senior managers in Delhi still have the last say, though. The senior BJP member has served eight terms as a Legislator in Shikaripura.

Another key element for a state he is all too familiar with is his mobility. He routinely travels the state and keeps his ears on the ground. Those who matter in the party take his criticism seriously.

Vokkaligas voters make up close to 14% of the electorate in the state and have historically supported the HD Devegowda-led Janata Dal-Secular party (JD(S)). Southern Karnataka is reportedly a weak region for the BJP.
"We have witnessed the rise of various party leaders, like CT Ravi and R Ashok Ashwathnarayan, among others. A state leader claimed that the saffron party was not exclusive to the Lingayats and that we still needed to discover the Yediyurappa of the Vokkaliga community.

Only in 2019 when the BJP was successful in poaching the Congress JDS MLAs and unseating the HD Kumaraswamy-led government was the BJP able to penetrate the JDS heartland.

In 2008, he was successful in bringing the BJP to power in Karnataka for the first time. He left his position as CM in 2011 after being implicated in a corruption scandal, only to be cleared of all charges in 2016. After establishing his own political party, he quickly merged it with the BJP. He then ran for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Shimoga and won.

Later, after he entered office as Chief Minister for two days before resigning since the party was unable to demonstrate a majority, he ran for election to the 2018 Karnataka Legislature. In a subsequent turn of events in July 2021, the veteran resigned as CM on the orders of the party's senior brass to make room for Basavaraj Bommai. Moreover, Yediyurappa held the position of BJP Karnataka President three times. 

PM to attend closing ceremony of 'Vijay Sankal Yatra' in Karnataka

Karnataka earmakrs Rs 5 cr for developing Allama Prabhu birthplace

PM Mitra mega textile parks to set up in TN, MH, Gujarat, UP and more