Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Apr 8 : Soon after the national BJP leaders announced the appointment of B S Yedyurappa as state BJP president, his supporters expressed happiness by celebrating the 'Ugadi gift' from the high command.
Udupi-Chikkamagluru MP Shobha Karandlaje, a close associate of the former Karnataka chief minister, was the first to react, and needless to add, she welcomed the move.
"It is welcome news, but we had no doubt about his appointment as he is the most popular BJP leader in the state. There is no alternative to him, and he is surely going to be the next PM. Under his leadership, the state will face election in 2018 or even earlier. I am confident that due to poor administration and a series of failures of the Congress government, BJP will come back to power. Yeddyurappa will become the CM once again," she told reporters.
Yeddyurappa became the CM of Karnataka after BJP's victory in 2008 Assembly elections. He had a tough time as he had to face rebellion from party's own members. Even his closest associates ditched him when he wanted their support the most. The denotification allegations haunted him during his tenure, and he was even jailed for a few days in this connection. His 38-month reign as chief minister came to a dramatic end in 2011 in the midst of denotification and illegal mining cases and rebellion from a section of the party leaders. He then quit the party and formed his own, only to return to BJP in early 2014.
Yeddyurappa became the frontrunner for the post of the party's Karnataka president after the Supreme Court last year declined to intervene and revoke a Karnataka high court order putting on hold his prosecution in a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
A strong Lingayat community leader, Yeddyurappa is currently member of parliament from Shivamogga. It will be interesting to see how his detractors react and work with him in the coming days.