Knives out for B S Yediyurappa’s son again as Karnataka BJP truce fizzles out

Since the appointment of Vijayendra – the younger son of BJP Parliamentary Board member and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa – as the state BJP president in November last year, a section of party leaders like Jarkiholi, MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal and former minister Arvind Limbavali have voiced their dissatisfaction with his elevation. They have also expressed reservations over another Yediyurappa loyalist, R Ashoka, being made the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly.

The indications that last Thursday’s RSS-BJP meeting had failed emerged only a day later as a delegation led by Yatnal and Jarkiholi, which had no member from the other camp, met Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot demanding a comprehensive probe into the alleged Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam. Yatnal had dismissed speculation saying the appointment with the Governor was fixed much before Thursday’s meeting.

The Thursday meeting chaired by RSS leader Mukunda and BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh had leaders of both factions in attendance. Jarkiholi, along with former MP Pratap Simha and Yatnal represented one faction while the other was represented by Ashoka, Vijayendra and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy.

In the meeting, the rival camps were advised to set their differences aside and prepare for the coming local body elections and urged them not to make public comments against the state unit’s decisions.

The Vijayendra-Jarkiholi conflict goes back to 2019, when Yediyurappa was the CM. The two leaders are said to have fallen out even before an alleged sex video of Jarkiholi led to his ouster from the Cabinet. Jarkiholi joined the BJP from the Congress in 2019 and was subsequently elevated as Water Resources Minister in the Yediyurappa Cabinet.

On the other hand, Yatnal has consistently trained guns on Yediyurappa over the past few years. After Vijayendra’s appointment as the state BJP chief, Yatnal had accused Yediyurappa of “blackmailing” the party high command to secure the post for his son.

On Tuesday, Vijayendra said “swallowing everything” in the interest of the BJP, he was working towards achieving the goal of bringing the party to power in the state with a majority in the next Assembly election.