BJP will have to rethink Varuna plans after Yediyurappa declares Vijayendra won’t contest from there

BENGALURU: Senior BJP leader and former CM B S Yediyurappa, who is leading the poll charge of the party in the state, may have upset the party’s plans of checkmating Congress leader Siddaramaiah in Varuna constituency by declaring that his son B Y Vijayendra will contest only from Shikaripur constituency, which happens to be his own seat.

On Friday, Yediyurappa declared, “There is no question of Vijayendra contesting from Varuna. I will tell high command that he will contest from my seat Shikaripur”. Yediyurappa is the sitting MLA from Shikaripur but has announced retirement from electoral politics.

BJP state vice-president B Y Vijayendra at the RSS state headquarters on Thursday.

Only the previous day, Yediyurappa had said that there was discussion on fielding Vijayendra from Varuna constituency, but had added that the BJP parliamentary board will take a final decision. Vijayendra had even visited ‘Keshava Krupa’, the RSS headquarters in Chamarajpet where he met senior leaders, adding grist to the speculations.

Yediyurappa’s announcement has now set off buzz in party circles on whether decision was Yediyurappa’s gameplan or pressure from within the family to field Vijayendra, who is state BJP vice-president, from a safe seat when he is expected to make his electoral debut.

The contest in Varuna was expected to capture wide attention if Vijayendra had been pitted against Siddaramaiah. It is now being speculated that Yediyurappa’s decision may have been prompted by the possibility of sabotage in Varuna, thereby affecting Vijayendra’s political future and the fear of losing the Shikaripur seat too.

The party, meanwhile, had planned to tie Siddaramaiah down in Varuna be fielding a strong candidate, giving him little scope to tour other parts of the state. Given Yediyurappa’s firm statement, the party will have to rethink its plans for Varuna constituency.