Yeddyurappa to continue in 2-pronged combat role against govt

New Delhi, Jul 9: The BJP top brass has decided to allow former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to remain the state unit president as well as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly till the next Lok Sabha polls are over. This, despite the party’s ‘one-person one-post’ policy.

Though some sections in the party made a suggestion to the party leadership to remove Yeddyurappa from one of the posts, the central leadership has made it clear that the former chief minister will continue in both the posts.

Since the party has decided to go to the Lok Sabha polls in the state under Yeddyurappa’s leadership, there is no question of a change, a party functionary said. Yeddyurappa also showed inclination to hold the two posts and the party agreed, he said.

There is a view in the party that with Yeddyurppa leading the pack in the Assembly, BJP will be able to act as an effective Opposition in the House.

Though at one point of time, the party thought of asking him to resign from the post of Leader of the Opposition and concentrate on party works, the party leaders concluded that no other leader could be more effective than him in the given circumstances. Besides being the tallest leader of Lingayat community, Yeddyurappa has good clout among farmers.

The party believes keeping Yeddyurappa in the forefront is expected to help the BJP take on the coalition government in the Assembly on agrarian issues at a time when the Kumaraswamy government is aggressively wooing the community with sops, including a mega farm loan waiver.

Since the party has a huge strength of 104 members in the Assembly, Yeddyurappa - with his wider acceptability - is a better choice to lead them, it is believed. With fissures in the alliance wide open, Yeddyurappa can exploit it more effectively, said a party functionary.

“Despite the party policy, we have made an exception in the former chief minister’s case. Considering his organisational skills and clout among the Lingayat community, the party has decided not to disturb him, at least till the Lok Sabha elections are over,” said the leader.

The BJP, which won 17 seats out of 28 in the state in the last Lok Sabha elections, has given Yeddyurappa a target to win 25 seats in the 2019 general elections, the leader added.