Rice mill clerk to CM-elect

The former rice mill clerk from Shikharipur, despite his small town origins, has risen within the RSS and BJP through what locals call horata — by being at the forefront of people’s struggles.

In Shimoga, he is best known for a padayatra he undertook at the beginning of his political career to demand land rights for hundreds of tribals living on Government land around Shikharipura. In Bangalore, he is popular as the fiery opposition leader for whom power has always been visible but unreachable.

Yeddyurappa, who hails from the Lingayat community, a majority in north Karnataka, has been the face of the BJP in Karnataka for several years now — 21 years ago he waged a lone battle as the only BJP representative in the Karnataka Assembly. Elected to the Assembly six times since 1983 he lost only in the 1999 elections.

In the past there have been stories built around Yeddyurappa’s anxiety to be in a position for power. Congress and JD(S) leaders often commented that he would be a very frustrated man if he didn’t become CM. Another common story has been about Yeddyurappa stitching a brand new safari suit — his signature attire, ahead of every Assembly elections, in anticipation of him becoming Chief Minister.

But his tenure as finance and deputy chief minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition Government, when he announced a slew of populist measures in the Budget, helped him emerge as a key leader. Free bicycles for all government high school students, farm loans at four per cent interest, a ban on the sale of arrack, special monetary incentives for girls taking up higher education all made him and his party popular.

However, Yeddyurappa’s own Shikharipura constituency still lacks basic facilities like a good drainage system, drinking water supplies and an overall quality of life. “Shikharipura is still under construction. When he was Deputy CM, Yeddyurappa cleared schemes worth over Rs 20 crore for us. These have to be implemented,” say local leaders like Shikharipura BJP general secretary K G Vasanth Gowda.

Yeddyurappa, a widower, has two sons who control business interests for the family, and two daughters.