A BJP veteran has come out of retirement to challenge his party against dynastic rule in its Karnataka unit, where B.S. Yediyurappa and his family hold sway, and stop it from “going the Congress way”.

While the BJP has for long been using the Congress “dynastic rule” as a poll pitch, the decision taken by K.S. Eshwarappa came the evening before Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his party’s campaign from Gulbarga, the home turf of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

A former state BJP president and deputy chief minister, Eshwarappa will contest as an Independent from Shimoga against Yediyurappa’s elder son and Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra in his fight against the “dynasty”. His younger son Vijayendra Yediyurappa is the state party president.

Eshwarappa had dropped sufficient hints soon after the BJP’s first list of 20 candidates didn’t feature his son K.E. Kantesh. Instead, the party opted to field former chief minister and MLA Basavaraj Bommai from Haveri.

The BJP's OBC face, Eshwarappa had squarely blamed Yediyurappa for “betraying” him after promising the Haveri seat for his son.

Eshwarappa has company in former law minister and a protege of Yediyurappa, J.C. Madhuswamy, who is the latest BJP leader to lash out at his mentor Yediyurappa for “deceiving” him by denying him the Tumkur Lok Sabha ticket. But unlike Eshwarappa, Madhuswamy hasn’t yet taken a call on his next course of action.

Eshwarappa had retired from electoral politics in April last year ahead of the state Assembly polls over denial of ticket but campaigned for the party after Modi spoke to him over the phone.

“This party is going the Congress way in this state. I don’t know about other states. I took this decision because the party should not be in the hands of one family, Hindutva should not face injustice and our workers should not suffer,” he told a meeting of his supporters in Shimoga late on Friday.

But Eshwarappa underlined his respect for Modi and the Hindutva politics of the BJP.

He even anticipated some disciplinary action from the party but promised to return to the BJP once he was elected. “I am prepared to face anything for the party and Modi. I am begging you with folded hands, your enthusiasm should not be limited to this hall,” he said urging the supporters to work for his victory.

“I could receive a notice or face disciplinary action. But if I win this election, I will be back in the party in just two months,” he assured his cheering supporters.

The rebellion in the BJP coincides with Modi hitting the campaign trail to strengthen the party’s chances in the southern states, especially Kerala and Tamil Nadu, to shake off the tag of a north Indian party.

The law minister in Yediyurappa’s cabinet from 2019, Madhuswamy was for long the trusted lieutenant of his mentor. He was among those who joined Yediyurappa when he broke away from the BJP and former Karnataka Janata Paksha after being sidelined and forced to resign as chief minister after being indicted by the Lokayukta in a mining scam in 2011.

The party preferred V. Somanna, who has been flirting with the Congress, instead of Madhuswamy.

“I trusted Yediyurappa. But he sacrificed me like Dronacharya did to Ekalavya,” he said lashing out at the 81-year-old Lingayat leader who had returned to the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.