Karnataka: Another Congress MLA reposes faith in Yediyurappa as ouster prospect looms

Facing the prospect of being replaced on July 26, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa received support from another Congress legislator after MB Patil. Speaking to the media on Monday, Davangere (South) MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa urged the BJP high command to ensure that Yediyurappa remains the CM. Moreover, he warned the saffron party that it will stand in solidarity with the CM if he is forced to step down. Belonging to the Lingayat community himself, Shivashankarappa is also the national president of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha. 

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Congress MLA MB Patil remarked, "Yediyurappa is a tall leader in the Lingayat community. He should be treated with dignity and respect. I am not opining on who should be CM, that is a purely BJP matter."

Yediyurappa's ascent to power

While BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election, Yediyurappa had to resign merely two days after taking oath as the CM owing to his party's inability to muster a majority in the state Assembly. Kumaraswamy was sworn in as the CM on May 23, 2018, after JD(S) and Congress stitched a post-poll alliance. The infighting within the alliance intensified after BJP swept Karnataka in the 2019 General Election by winning 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats. 

The crisis for the coalition government commenced on July 6, 2019, when 12 legislators submitted their resignations to the Karnataka Speaker's office. Soon, the number of rebel MLAs swelled to 17, following which the then Governor Vajubhai Vala asked the government to prove its majority on the floor of the House. As a three-judge Supreme Court bench refused to compel the rebel MLAs to attend the Assembly proceedings, the JD(S)-Congress government lost the trust vote on July 23, 2019. Three days later, Yediyurappa took oath as the CM for the 4th time.

The rift within Karnataka BJP

After BJP won 12 out of the 15 by-elections conducted in December 2019, BJP managed to get a simple majority in the Karnataka Assembly. However, Yediyurappa has faced problems in expanding the Cabinet and allocating portfolios. For instance, he had to redistribute ministerial portfolios multiple times after many Ministers expressed their disgruntlement. 

On April 1, Karnataka Rural Development Minister KS Eshwarappa met the Governor and submitted a 5-page letter on ”serious lapses and authoritarian way of running the administration” by the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, some leaders such as MLC H Vishwanath have alleged that there is continuous interference of the Yediyurappa family in the government. Speculations about his ouster started doing the rounds after he visited the national capital last week where he met PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP president JP Nadda.

After his meetings on July 17, the Karnataka CM asserted "So far, no one has asked me to resign. If there is any such news, there is no value to it". However, a change is likely in the offing as the BJP legislature party meeting has been convened on July 26 on the occasion of the completion of two years in office.