YEDI, STEADY, GONE?

A change at the top will have a cascading effect on the cabinet, dominated by MLAs who quit the Congress and JD(S) to help the BJP form a government

- Aravind Gowda

Two years after he engineered the BJP’s return to power in Karnataka, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa (BSY), 78, may be on his way out. The mounting criticism of his style of functioning, his advancing age, allegations of son B.Y. Vijayendra’s high-handedness in government have all contributed to his imminent downfall. However, the party’s resolve to fight the next assembly poll (due in 2023) under a more youthful leadership has also played its part in BSY’s fate. Yediyurappa will still be—or so the BJP will hope—a star campaigner for he is the undisputed leader of the Lingayats, the largest community in Karnataka and a trusted BJP vote bank.