Southern Slice | 'Till My Last Breath': Retired But Not Tired, BSY Still BJP's Biggest Karnataka Poll Star

“Till my last breath I will continue to serve the Bharatiya Janata Party and even though I have decided to retire from active politics, I aim to ensure the BJP comes back to power with a full majority in the elections,” were the words BS Yediyurappa, Karnataka’s four-time chief minister, said to me when he was about to drive away from the premises of the majestic Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

As he walked around the precincts of the assembly building garlanding the statues of Dr BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi, Yediyurappa was also making a point. Accompanied by the state home minister Araga Jnanendra, education minister BC Nagesh and industries minister Murugesh Nirani among others, Yediyurappa certainly had a strong message going out as he walked around Vidhana Soudha one last time as an MLA: that he is neither down nor out.

On Wednesday, with his voice quivering and turning emotional, he announced his retirement. When he called it his last speech in the assembly, the speaker Vishweshwar Kageri intervened and said to the senior leader that he would be addressing the assembly on Friday, the last day of the session, and it was not time yet for him to say goodbye.

Yediyurappa’s political career is no mean feat that spans over four decades including building the BJP cadre from the ground up in the southern state which has had a good RSS presence. He is credited not just for his contribution to letting the BJP lotus bloom for the first time in southern India but also bringing the party to power four times, led by him as chief minister.

For one of BJP’s senior-most leaders, age is just a number. As he turns 80 on February 27, his quest of bringing the BJP back to power continues. He continues to enjoy the star status of the man that the BJP relies on to win elections. Even during his farewell speech in the Karnataka assembly while he announced his retirement from active politics, he made it a point to reiterate that he has neither been sidelined by the party nor felt so — rather he has taken it up upon himself to bring back the BJP to power in Karnataka just like he did in 2018.

The RSS worker who struggled and built the party brick by brick, vote by vote, has also been known to be the shrewd politician who engineered what is today called Operation Lotus: the art of luring MLAs with power and money to the BJP. His ability to bring in senior legislators from other parties into the BJP and ensure a win in the by-election only further solidified his position in the party’s core team.

The former CM’s farewell speech was filled with tributes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his colleagues in Karnataka, but his stature was reflected in the way the seasoned politician did not forget to thank his colleagues from the opposition including Siddarmaiah and HD Deve Gowda among others who have also worked with him while charting his political graph.

Yediyurapapa’s political career is dotted with many ups and downs, including being the CM of the state four times, and, unfortunately, being unable to fully complete a single term. He also has been the leader the BJP central leadership has leaned on, to consolidate votes for the party, across all communities and religions. He is one such politician who despite being from an RSS background has been well accepted by the Muslim community, which the BJP has of late seen moving away from it.

Even though the party’s central leadership forced him to resign from the chief ministership mid-term in 2021, as it wanted to “clip his wings”, the high command soon realised an angry Yediyurappa could do more harm to the party’s prospects. The high command brought in Basavaraj Bommai, a younger yet Yediyurappa-approved candidate to take his place. The fury of a hurt Yediyurappa was seen by the BJP in 2012 when the upset leader quit the party to form his own outfit, KJP. Not only did it affect the political fortunes of the BJP in that election, but the KJP also won in a few key constituencies.

Such is the power of the man that a few days ago, union home minister Amit Shah while addressing a public meeting in Ballari asked the people of Karnataka to “trust Narendra Modi and Yediyurappa once more”, not mentioning chief minister Bommai’s name — a clear indication of the continued importance of the septuagenarian.

What makes Yediyurappa indispensable for the BJP? It’s not just the pull he has over the Lingayat voters who form the largest community in the state, he also represents an era of politicians, who may be foes on the ground but friends off the field. This camaraderie and respect for the leader were only displayed when senior leaders across all parties including Siddaramaiah (Congress), HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy (JDS) attended his birthday bash held at the expansive palace grounds in 2017, and once again for the celebrations in 2020. It was an event that was laden with messaging. The bash was much more than a birthday celebration — it was one designed to flex muscles and show to the central leadership just how popular, strong, and influential Yediyurappa and his family are in Karnataka’s politics.

Today, as he remains firm on retiring, he has also ensured that he can exert enough authority in ticket selections as well as secure his younger son BY Vijayendra’s future in state politics.

As the state heads towards an interesting yet tough election, Yediyurappa is looking at making the party win his swansong. Even if the state throws up a fractured mandate, the BJP will rely on their “Mr Dependable ” to bring it back on the hot seat. After all, he is the master of the game called “Kissa kursi ka”.

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