The oft-repeated dynasty politics allegation that the BJP has been heaping on the Congress has come back to bite it with B.S. Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra Yediyurappa being appointed as the Karnataka BJP president.

Never to lose an opportunity to slam dynasts in Opposition parties such as the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the allegation has boomeranged on the BJP in Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The state Congress unit congratulated the “son of Yediyurappa” in a tongue-in-cheek comment on X, in a clear indication that Vijayendra would find it tough to shake off the dynast label.

“Congratulations to ‘son of Yeddyurappa’ who has been appointed as the new state president of BJP because he is the ‘son of Yediyurappa’. We appeal to the people of the state to believe the lie that ‘there is no family politics in the BJP’,” the Congress commented in Kannada.

The second son of Yediyurappa, 47-year-old Vijayendra, who was elected from his father’s long-nurtured Shikaripura Assembly constituency in May, was appointed party president on Friday.

Lavanya Ballal Jain, state Congress general secretary in charge of media and communications, gave a long list of dynasts in the BJP. “It’s easy for the PM to make fun of RG (Rahul Gandhi) calling him shezaada, but what about his own party MPs? Look at Tejaswi Surya & isn’t he a dynast? 12% of the BJPs parliamentarians are dynasts,” Jain commented on X, adding that former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai is himself a dynast, being the son of another former chief minister, S.R. Bommai.

Surya is the Bangalore South MP and nephew of BJP leader and MLA Ravi Subramanya.

Kannada film actor and Dalit rights activist Chetan Kumar Ahimsa attributed the choice of Vijayendra to “lineage”, like his elder brother and Shimoga Lok Sabha member, B.Y. Raghavendra.

“Vijayendra not only occupies an electoral position cuz of lineage — like brother Raghavendra — but now a significant appointed one too. BJP, that claims to fight dynastic politics, loses credibility when it comes to BSY family,” Chetan commented on X, highlighting the number of leaders from one family.

Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas BV laced his comment with sarcasm, terming the BJP a “shining example of anti-nepotism” in the state.

“The BJP is a shining example of anti-nepotism in Karnataka. The party has shown its commitment to meritocracy by appointing B.S. Yediyurappa’s son Vijayendra as the Karnataka BJP state president. The BJP is truly a party with a difference,” Srinivas commented on X.