What difference will B S Yeddyurappa make to the Karnataka BJP

Former Chief Minister of Karnataka, B S Yeddyurappa has a one point agenda- to rid Karnataka of the Congress rule and get the BJP back to power.

Yeddyurappa, the strongman of the BJP who is also favoured by the powerful Lingayat community in Karnataka was appointed as the state's BJP president yesterday.

The top leadership of the BJP which was initially in favour of putting off the assignment in the wake of the ongoing assembly elections in four states sprung a surprise when they made the announcement yesterday.

The timing:

Yeddyurappa who returned from Delhi yesterday headed to the party office at Bengaluru. It was a kind of home coming for Yeddyurappa who has had a bittersweet relationship with the party over the past three years.

While there were genuine smiles on the faces of many within his party, it was also evident that his rival camp was not exactly happy.

Top BJP leaders in Delhi tell OneIndia that not once did they consider anyone else's name for the top post. It was all about the timing.

Several other names for the top post in the party had cropped up, but there were just media speculations or plants as some may term it. The likes of Nalin Kumar Kateel or R Ashok were not on the list of probables, BJP sources informed.

While Amit Shah, the national president of the party was in favour of immediately appointing Yeddyurappa, some others felt that the decision ought to be delayed.

However, Yeddyurappa was clearly getting impatient. He skipped the first half of the state executive meeting of the party and had even complained on several occasions about the delay in the appointment.

In a bid to pacify Yeddyurappa, the party had even offered him a cabinet posting in the union government. However, he had politely refused that offer saying that he wanted to dedicate time to the state. I do not want to lose my grip over state politics, he had said.

However, there was a section in the BJP which felt that the Congress may bring out cases against Yeddyurappa once he is made the president.

After weighing out the possibilities, it was felt that any move to target Yeddyurappa would mean earning the wrath of the Lingayat community and the Congress could not afford it at this time.

The fight against the Congress:

Yeddyurappa on his arrival said that his job now would be to rid the state of the Congress rule. The next election will belong to the BJP and I shall work towards it.

Thanking his party, he said that he is humbled for having being chosen to the post. I do not have any doubt to bring back Karnataka into BJPs cache during the next election. I shall take party leaders collectively and work as per your expectations he had also said.

Yeddyurappa has a herculean task ahead of him. He will need to tour the state extensively and more importantly keep the BJP united.

There are a couple of factions in the BJP which need to be handled, and bringing them together and fighting the elections is one major challenge ahead for him.

The other big challenge for Yeddyurappa would be the cases against him. In fact almost all cases which includes 15 filed by the Lokayukta have been quashed by various courts.

The only headache for Yeddyurappa would be the Rs 20 crore bribery case in connection with the mining scandal which was investigated by the CBI. This case is currently under trial.