Will Yeddy let son rise at risk of confronting Siddu ending their bonhomie?

B S Yediyurappa may have announced his retirement from politics, but he continues to be the BJP's mainstay in Karnataka.

While, the top leader of the saffron party made it clear that he will not be contesting the elections, this year, his dilemma continues to be hi son, Vijayendra. On the face of it, it is quite clear, that Vijayendra will get his father's Shikaripur seat in Shivamogga district. However talk is on that Vijayendra may be wanting to contest from another seat. He is eyeing the Varuna seat from where former chief minister of Karnataka and Congress leader, Siddaramaiah will be contesting from.

The BJP is yet to announce its list of candidates. Sources tell OneIndia that the full list may be announced by either April 6 or 7.

In the run up to the current elections, Vijayendra has made several attempts to contest an election. However his wish to contest a by-election and make it into the council of ministers in a Cabinet led by Basavaraj Bommai have failed due to the opposition by the top leadership to dynasty politics.

While Vijayendra has shown confidence that he can win from Varuna, the sentiment is not shared by many of his well-wishers. They feel that he should stick to the safe seat in Shikaripur and experiment in the future. Siddaramaiah is no easy push over in Varuna and if Vijayendra happens to lose that battle, that would overshadow, his success in Shikaripur.

If some reports are to be believed, then Vijayendra may not have a sure-shot ticket from Shikraipur. In a recent visit to Varuna, he had said that he was obliged to the party workers from the constituency for brining him to the limelight. He also indicated that he was willing to stand from the seat. The plans were however nipped by Yediyurappa who said that his son would contest from Shikaripur.

While Vijayendra may want to contest from Varuna, his father is however not in favour. They may be from different parties, by Siddaramaiah and Yediyurappa share a bonhomie. Siddaramaiah was the only leader from the opposition who attended Yediyurappa's birthday bash in 2020. He had even heaped praise on the BJP veteran.

As things stand, Yediyurappa may not allow his son to experiment too much during his debut year in the Karnataka elections. Shikaripura remains a safe seat for Vijayendra and Yediyurappa would want to ensure that his son wins big and then takes the risks at a later stage.