BS Yeddyurappa backed rebel Yatnal?

Bengaluru: Did former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa indirectly support former Union minister Basavanagowda Patil Yatnal to help him win the recent Council poll from Vijayapura local bodies constituency as a BJP rebel?

Sources close to Mr Yeddyurappa said the Lingayat strongman did not show much interest to campaign in Vijayapura district after Mr Yatnal openly supported him.

To withdraw his nomination, Mr Yatnal put the condition that the BJP must appoint Mr Yeddyurappa as party state president.

Interestingly, Mr Yatnal had locked horns with Yeddyurappa since 2008 and had identified with Union Minister Ananth Kumar’s camp. Whenever he got the chance, he had criticized Yeddyurappa. His ‘U’ turn has surprised many.

Even after winning the Council elections, Mr. Yatnal has openly supported Yeddyurappa and demanded that the leadership declare the Lingayat strongman as CM candidate. Party sources said that after the intervention of community leaders and Lingayat Maths, Mr. Yatnal has softened his stand on Yeddyurappa. Supporting Yeddyurappa during elections campaigns was his tactic to win the votes of Yeddyurappa’s supporters in Vijayapura , said BJP sources.

“Including former MLC G. Madhusudhan, many second rung leaders in the BJP have been sidelined. These leaders are aware that if they support Yeddyurappa, he will safeguard their interests”, a leader said.

Shivamogga MP and former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who has been winning the legal battles he has been fighting in the past few years, said that he would not like to become a central minister even if an offer was ever made to him and intended to confine himself to state politics. Speaking to mediapersons at Shivamogga, he said that his main aim was to bring the BJP back to power in the state. “So I am not eager to accept a ministerial post in the central government.” On the party state president’s post, he said it was left to the discretion of the BJP high command. “I will strive hard to build a strong fortress of the party in the state.”, he added. On the setback in the MLC elections, Mr Yeddyurappa said they had assumed they would win 10 seats.