BS Yeddyurappa, Karnataka Chief Minister's profile

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa, popularly known as BS Yeddyurappa is the twenty-fifth Chief Minister of Karnataka, belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Born on February 27, 1943, he is the first to make it to the Chief Minister's post from the BJP in any South Indian State.

Belonging to the Lingayat community, he was born to Siddalingappa and Puttathayamma in Bookanakere, K.R. Pet Taluk, Mandya District in Karnataka. He married in 1967 and has two sons and three daughters. His wife, Maithra Devi died under mysterious circumstances in the year 2004 after drowning in a well, the reason to which is still unknown.

Upon completion of his education in Bachelor of Arts, he worked as a clerk in the social welfare department and was later shifted to Shijaripur, where he continued as a clerk at Veerabhadra Shastri's Shankar rice mill. BSY later setup his own hardware shop in Shimoga.

His stint as a politician began in 1979 after he became the secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Shikaripur. He was also imprisoned in Shimoga and Bellary jails between 1975 and 1977 during an emergency in India.

BSY rose to fame when he successfully helped HD Kumarawamy to bring down the government of Dharam Singh, who was indicted in a report by Karnataka Lokayukta in a mining scam which led to huge losses to the state.

He was then made the Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister during the Kumaraswamy regime. He turned the tables when it came to his turn to become the CM, Kumaraswamy's refusal to resign led BSY and other minister to put forward their resignation from his party. After BJP and Kumaraswamy's JD (S) decided to bury the hatchet, Yeddyurappa took over the office again. He however resigned later in November over differences with JD(S) government over the sharing of Ministers.

He took oath of office again on May 30, 2008 after he won by a margin of 45,000 votes in the Karnataka's assembly elections.

Controversies started flooding his political career after he was alleged of having used his position to favour his sons in the allotment of land in Bangalore, which is also known as the biggest land scam ever in Karnataka. Refuting charges, Yeddyurappa declared his assets - 2.7 kg of gold and 76 kg of silver, in a way trying to prove that neither he nor his family members were involved in any financial irregularities.

Political drama continued in the state after he decided to swear in at Dharmasthala over the graft issue when his arch-rival, HD Kumaraswamy claimed that the Chief Minister wanted to buy his silence. Blame games continued as the CM openly challenged Kumaraswamy to prove the truth in front of Lord Manjunatha Swamy at Dharmasthala. Though Kumaraswamy accepted the challenge, the whole Dharmasthala show down turned out to be a flop show.

If this was not enough, the reportedly leaked Lokayukta report indicted the Chief Minister of granting illegal mining licenses to mining companies and benefitting through them. Not only he, but his family members are also alleged to have received bribe from mining companies. The Lokayukta papers reported that a mining firm donated Rs 10 crore to a trust owned by the CM.

Yeddyurappa till now has survived 38 attempts that could have led to his ouster and also faced the wrath of vote of confidence thrice during his regime. The Lokayukta report is back again to haunt the controversy's favorite child as evidences against him only seem to be getting stronger.

With the Chief Minister refusing to step down and his own party demanding that he resign, it will be worth waiting to watch what tricks the tainted CM will play now to save his political skin.

OneIndia News