‘Yediyurappa is known as a people’s leader, not just of Lingayats… Like my father, I’ll take all into confidence’: B Y Vijayendra

Q) How many villages are you covering every day? How well do you know the region given that your father has been contesting from here for four decades?

VIJAYENDRA: I cover 25 to 28 villages every day. I have been coming here during campaigns for MP and MLA polls. I have gone around these villages many times. The party workers are not new to me and neither is the region. I was born and brought up here, and went to school till Class 7 in this region.

Q) How big a challenge is it to fill Yediyurappa’s boots?

VIJAYENDRA: Firstly, nobody can replace Yediyurappaji. Yediyurappa can be matched only by Yediyurappa. I cannot take his place. However, the path that he has taken, the concern he has had for the poor, the farmers, for the welfare of the SC and ST communities, and his stomach for struggle, has been a guide to me. It is next to impossible to fill his shoes.

Q) Yediyurappa gained his status as a leader by holding many protests on behalf of communities. Are you yet to prove yourself on this front?

VIJAYENDRA: I have proven myself whenever I have been handed responsibilities by party leaders. What is important is how you handle the responsibilities given to you. If you look at elections where the party gave me responsibilities, like Sira and K R Pet, we delivered victories. The party made me a vice-president and I travelled around the state to do the job given to me. Just before the elections, I was given the responsibility of holding conventions of various party morchas and I travelled to all the districts. The efforts were a success and this was reflected in the Vijay Sankalp Yatras of the party. So, whenever I have been given responsibilities, I have worked effectively and demonstrated this. This was in the interest of the party and not in personal interest. This has been recognised by the party.

Q) Seeing how you are campaigning… don’t you think the work done by your father that has transformed the region would be enough for you to win?

VIJAYENDRA: If I say that I can win without campaigning, that would be arrogance. Of course we are confident that the development work done by my father and my brother Raghanna (B Y Raghavendra, the Shimoga MP) will hold me in good stead. Secondly, the party workers are our strength. No election can be taken lightly and no rival can be considered a pushover. An election must be fought with all seriousness. We have taken this election very seriously. I have completed three rounds of campaigning already in Shikaripura.

Q) There seem to be some issues that may affect your prospects, like the anger among Banjaras / Lambanis over the shuffle in the internal reservations for SCs by the BJP government.

VIJAYENDRA: When the results are announced on May 13, you will see. I am fully confident that the Banjara community is with us, except for a few people who have aligned with the Congress. The Banjara community is with us more than ever before. The Muslims were upset about the 4% reservation that was taken away, but we have pacified them. This time the minorities too will vote in a major way for the BJP in Shikaripura.

Q) The Assembly elections are happening at a time when there seems to be a vacuum in the Lingayat leadership in Karnataka following the exit of your father from electoral politics. Do you see this as an opportunity to emerge as the new leader of the Lingayat community?

VIJAYENDRA: Any representative of the people or a politician must not be restricted to a community and must not attempt to grow as a community leader. I have seen my father’s politics close at hand and my father has taken all sections of society and all communities along. This is why Yediyurappa is known as a people’s leader and not just of the Lingayat people. They call him a farmer leader and not a Veerashaiva Lingayat leader. While I take baby steps into politics, I have to take all communities into confidence. That is real politics, I feel.

Q) You have been saying in your campaign that you want to win by a margin of over 50,000 votes. Your father won last time by around 38,000 votes. What gives you the confidence that you will do better?

VIJAYENDRA: The confidence is from the development witnessed in the region in the last four years. It happened previously as well, but since Yediyurappa was CM this time (2019-2021), there has been development in health and education sectors, irrigation projects, basic necessities. As a result, the people are content in our taluk (Shikaripura) cutting across communities and party affiliations. Yediyurappa served the constituency as a sort of penance for 40 years and the voters are in a frame of mind to fulfil their debt to him. This is why I am saying the constituency will bless me with victory by a margin of over 50,000 votes.

Q) Is your campaigning restricted to Shikaripura or are you campaigning for the BJP in other parts of the state?

VIJAYENDRA: Since I filed my nomination, I have campaigned in seven to eight constituencies. From May 5, I will campaign in Tumkur, Ballari, Chikamagalur, Koppal and Hassan.

Q) There was a lot of doubt about whether the BJP would give you a ticket to contest these polls. Did this concern you?

VIJAYENDRA: More than confusion, I never chased it in an obsessive way. If the party gave me an opportunity, I would contest — this was my view. In the past, when I wanted to contest from Varuna (in 2018, against then CM Siddaramaiah’s son), there was (support for it) and I also worked in the region. In the end, the party did not give me a ticket, and I accepted the decision as a party worker. Now they have given me an opportunity and I must fulfill my responsibility.

Q) In 2018, you were adamant about contesting the Varuna seat. This time you opted out of contesting in Varuna (Siddaramaiah is fighting from there this time). Why this change in stance?

VIJAYENDRA: Let me put it on record, even in 2018, Yediyurappaji did not demand that his son be given the Varuna ticket. He never asked for it from the Delhi high command. The people of Varuna wanted me to contest, and I went there and tested the ground. Yediyurappa never asked even once for the seat. There was no question of being adamant in 2018.