Rise of a born fighter

Bangalore, May 26 (UNI) Bookanakere Sidalingappa Yeddyurappa, a born fighter, has struggled both within the party and outside to rise from the ranks of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) to lead the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power in Karnataka.

His never-say-die attitude and the struggle for the welfare of farmers and relentless salvos, as the Leader of the Opposition, against the ruling parties in the state in the past had borne fruit for him to lead the new government of the BJP now, the first for the party down the Vindhyas.

His dream to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka ended in a fiasco in November 2007 as he emerged a 'Saath Din Ka Sultan,' following the Janata Dal (S) decision to pull the carpet from under his feet after assuring to support the government led by him. But now, instead of the 20 months as contracted with the JD(S) to form the coalition government, Yeddyurappa has a chance to lead the BJP government for a full five year term.

Entering the Assembly for a sixth term since 1983, Mr Yeddyurappa, as the Finance Minister during his Deputy Chief Ministership, reduced the interest rates of the cooperative loans to farmers to seven per cent and subsequently to four per cent, for the first time in the country.

He had also relentlessly fought for the waiver of farm loans during his tenure as the Leader of the Opposition to mitigate the hardship faced by the farming community, especially in the predominantly rain-fed areas of the state.

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