After months of delay, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finally decided on the change of leadership in Karnataka. The BJP central leadership under national president JP Nadda, appointed BY Vijayendra as the president of the BJP state unit on Friday, November 10. Vijayendra was one of the party’s vice presidents and is a first-time MLA from Shikaripura. Nalin Kumar Kateel’s three-year term ended in August 2022.
Sources said that in the contest between Vijayendra, CT Ravi and Shobha Karandlaje, Vijayendra was touted to have the least chance of becoming president. Since CT Ravi failed to win his Assembly segment from Chikkamagalur, he was ruled out. “Shobha has a role to play in Delhi being a Minister, it was decided that Vijayendra should be made the president. Yediyurappa had made it clear that if he campaigned for the BJP, his son should be given a senior position in the party or government. Yediyurappa has prevailed. Also, the high command does not want to send a wrong message to Lingayats. They wanted to show that the party is with them,” a source close to the Yediyurappa family told TNM.
BJP leaders in the state had earlier said that the elevation of Vijayendra as party chief would only help in wooing the Lingayat community, which is said to have maintained a distance from the party ever since Yediyurappa was sidelined as Chief Minister.