Yeddyurappa Faces Revolt in Karnataka BJP Over 'Dictatorial' Style

It's not just Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, even his arch-rival BS Yeddyurappa of the BJP, is facing a revolt within his party.

Yeddyurappa who was appointed state BJP president in April to win Karnataka back from the Congress in 2018, is fighting an internal rebellion. Some top state leaders of the party, including KS Eshwarappa, Jagadish Shettar and Union ministers Ananth Kumar and DV Sadananda Gowda, have expressed dissatisfaction over Yeddyurappa’s "dictatorial" style.

These leaders have alleged that the former chief minister is taking decisions "unilaterally", ignoring the sentiments of other leaders of the party in the state.

“We were not consulted before appointing district presidents and office bearers of the state committee. We expect him to hear our views,” KS Eshwarappa, leader of the Opposition in the state's upper house, told News18 on Tuesday.

Others declined to comment on record, but sources in the party confirmed that these leaders have expressed anger over the manner in which Yeddyurappa appointed dozens of office bearers.

Sources in the anti-Yeddyurappa camp said their leaders were set to approach party national chief Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Monsoon session of Parliament.

After he was unseated from the CM’s chair in mid 2011, Yeddyurappa briefly left the BJP to launch the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP). He returned to the BJP in early 2014, just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. He won from the Shimoga Lok Sabha seat and was made a national vice president of the party before being sent back to Karnataka as its state unit chief.

Yeddyurappa's rivals alleged he was giving prominence to the people who left the BJP with him, and not to the ones who stayed back.

Many of them felt, that with such resentment at the top level, it would not be possible for the party to face the next Assembly elections unitedly.

Reacting to these charges, Yeddyurappa said, “There is no revolt in the party. It is all a media creation. There may be some differences. Eshwarappa is also an important leader of the party. His views will also be taken into consideration. "Like them, I too believe in internal democracy,” he told News18 over the phone.

Five years ago, it was resentment against Yeddyurappa’s "dictatorial" tendencies which led to the collapse of his government. Angry over his coterie’s control over the government, dozens of BJP MLAs had revolted against him at least half a dozen times between 2009 and 2011.