Speculation Carousal

The enduring speculation over Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s future swirled again last week—fuelled by the Delhi visits of state minister C.P. Yogeeshwara, who has been an open critic, and the CM’s son B.Y. Vijayendra. Yet, Yediyurappa stirred political circles afresh when he, unusually enough, chose to answer the question about a change of guard.

The 78-year-old veteran said he would continue so long as the BJP high ­command had confidence in him. “The day they ask me to step down, I will resign and work for the welfare of the state,” he told reporters. The CM’s comments, some loyalists said, were aimed at his detractors as dissident voices spring up every now and again.

Speculation over Yediyurappa has been an ongoing feature of Karnataka’s BJP government over the past year, even amidst the Covid ­crisis. His loyalists have pointed to the Delhi visits by legislators to meet the party top brass as evidence that efforts to unseat Yediyurappa were on.

The CM, meanwhile, says ­controlling the pandemic is his priority. Sometime ago, another senior minister had complained to the ­governor about Yediyurappa’s ­“aut­horitarian” attitude in department affairs. Besides, there have been veiled ­references by leaders to the CM’s family members ­interfering in the government.

Following Yediyurappa’s comments this week, many legislators came out in his support—one of them even claiming that a signature campaign of MLAs had been carried out to rally numbers behind the CM.

Yediyurappa put out a tweet asking legislators to focus on Covid-related work in their constituencies and not indulge in signature campaigns or political statements. For now, it appears the edge has been taken off guesswork. Some observers point to the recent decision to set up a coordination committee as an attempt to address the dissidence.

Political commentator A. Narayana reckons that the constant flow of talk about a change of guard highlights the fact that any sudden move to replace the CM—especially given Yediyurappa’s stature as a mass leader from the state’s influential Lingayat ­community—will be counter-productive.

By that token, these ­periodic outbursts of dissidence could be construed as testing the waters. “It is not that they can do an Uttarakhand here,” says Narayana. However, given that there are just under two years left for the next state elections, these questions will likely resurface.

By Ajay Sukumaran in Bangalore