When BS Yediyurappa was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the BJP during the 2018 elections, it was known that the party would not give him a full term. Yediyurappa did not have age on his side and it was communicated to him that he would be replaced two or three years down the line. However, his stint as Chief Minister was just two days old and the Congress and JD(S) wrested power away from BJP.
For the next few months, Yediyurappa plotted his comeback and finally became Chief Minister again in July 2019. Yediyurappa believed that his machinations that led to 17 MLAs from the opposition deserting their ship and joining the BJP had cemented his position further in the BJP. However, this was not so. The BJP high command was unwavering on its stand that Yediyurappa has to give way to a new Chief Minister.
Here are the five main reasons why the BJP wanted to replace BS Yediyurappa:
The BJP, when Amit Shah as the party’s national president, had formed an unsaid rule of 75 years as the retirement age for its leaders. This meant even heavyweight leaders like LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were given unceremonious exits from active politics. In Karnataka, 78-year-old Yediyurappa was given concession to this rule as he went on to become the Chief Minister in 2018 and then in 2019.
Politics in Karnataka is largely caste and region driven. Most political leaders and parties have a hold over certain communities or regions. Yediyurappa is considered the tallest leader of the Lingayat community which constitutes 15-17% of the population in the state. However, many BJP leaders say that the party high command now wants to go beyond the caste equations and create a stronger party cadre base, irrespective of who the leader is. The BJP believes a new and perhaps younger leader will enable them to grow the party in the state and not be under the control of certain individuals. The party has been planning this change for months, but it was delayed due to the pandemic and even elections in other states like West Bengal.
Though BS Yediyurappa has always been credited with building the BJP in Karnataka, he is also a man who quit the party and formed his own party. In 2012, Yediyurappa had walked away from the BJP and started his Karnataka Janata Paksha, and this cost the BJP during the 2013 Assembly elections. Though Yediyurappa did eventually return to the BJP’s fold, his desertion is not something that the Sangh or the top leaders of the BJP have forgiven or forgotten.
Unlike in many other states, where both the Congress and BJP have Chief Ministers who listen to the high command, Yediyurappa has never been obligated to do so. Having been credited with building the party, Yediyurappa enjoyed a sort of independence which some other CMs could not afford. The BJP high command would prefer a replacement candidate who would listen to them.
After ensuring that 17 MLAs left the JD(S) and Congress, and he could form the government, Yediyurappa believed that he had become stronger and therefore not easily replaceable for the BJP. However, in the last few months, many BJP leaders have complained that Yediyurappa's family, especially his son BY Vijayendra, has been acting like a ‘proxy CM’. Allegations of corruption too have been raised and the high command had communicated its unhappiness to Yediyurappa.