The BJP has appointed Vijayendra Yediyurappa, son of B.S. Yediyurappa, as the party’s Karnataka president ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in a significant generational shift.
Although on expected lines, the appointment of Vijayendra comes five years after he was denied a party ticket to contest the 2018 Assembly elections from the Varuna segment against Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra, and just over a year after he was ignored for a slot in the Legislative Council.
But Vijayendra was elected to the Assembly in the May elections from the Shikaripura constituency that his father had won eight times. Yediyurappa had in July last year announced his retirement from electoral politics and unilaterally declared that his son would henceforth contest from his constituency.
The appointment of Vijayendra marks the return of the Yediyurappa family to the mainstream leadership of the party in the state. His elder son B.Y. Raghavendra represents Shimoga in the Lok Sabha.
Vijayendra, however, denied that his appointment was to placate Yediyurappa who had been sidelined until the state elections after he was asked to step down as chief minister in 2020. “I am proud of being the son of B.S. Yediyurappa. But I don’t see that as the reason why the national leadership entrusted me with this job,” he told reporters on Friday.
He added that he would “tour the state to further strengthen the party” ahead of the Lok Sabha polls with the aim of winning maximum seats.
The party had won 26 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in 2019.
Vijayendra replaces Nalin Kumar Kateel who was asked to continue although his three-year term ended in August 2022.
The newly appointed president informed that the BJP legislative party would meet on November 17 to elect its floor leader. Several party MLAs had threatened to stay away from the upcoming winter session in December if that party failed to elect a leader of the Opposition.
The outgoing president extended all support to Vijayendra but said the party organisation was strengthened during his tenure. “We have strengthened the party organisation, although the election defeat cannot be ignored. Vijayendra has strong organisational skills and the support of the youth,” Kateel told reporters.
