Clip Slip

The audio clip may be a setback for Yeddyurappa, but he continues to be indispensable to the BJP.

- Prathima Nandakumar

A MASS LEADER, seven-time MLA, Lingayat strongman and a former chief minister, Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa nurtures a single dream—to become the chief minister of Karnataka once again. His dream was within reach last May when the BJP, under his leadership, bagged 104 of 224 seats in the assembly polls. But, the party fell short of nine seats for a clear majority and he stepped down within three days of taking oath as chief minister. His multiple bids at Operation Kamala— poaching MLAs from the opposition camp to prop up a BJP government— too failed. His desperation has now led to a political catastrophe. Owing to an audio clip that reportedly proves the BJP’s attempts in horse trading, Yeddyurappa may find himself in a legal knot. State assembly speaker Ramesh Kumar directed the government to form a special investigation team to probe the case after his name cropped up in the clip.

At 75, Yeddyurappa thinks this may be his last shot at chief ministership. Age factor apart, party colleagues, too, may work against him in the future. What perhaps fuels his chief ministerial ambitions is regret. While he established the first BJP government in the south in 2008, winning 110 of 224 assembly seats, he could not finish his term as he was indicted in the illegal mining scam and for illegally profiting from land deals. He earned the disrepute of becoming the first sitting chief minister to be jailed on corruption charges. In 2012, he quit the BJP to float the Karnataka Janata Paksha, which got ten per cent vote share in the 2013 assembly polls. He, however, returned to the BJP ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and won the Shivamogga parliamentary seat by a huge margin. And, the BJP won 17 of 28 seats.