B S Yeddyurappa, waiting for Act II

Yeddyurappa says, he will develop tourism and roll out the red carpet for potential investors

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa (who changed the spelling of his last name on astrological advice) is the envy of many of his party colleagues. None of them was named chief ministerial candidate more than a year ahead of the election. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah announced several months ago that when (not if) the BJP gets a majority in Karnataka, it is Yeddyurappa who will be chief minister. BSY, as he is known, is now conscious that he has to put in place a strategy to achieve that objective — and also demolish those who come in the way.

He lives in a modest home (going by the standards of the residential accommodation of some of his colleagues, very modest) in a suburb of Bengaluru. The thing about him is: What you see is what you get. He looks you in the eye, contradicts you sharply if he feels you are wrong and doesn’t hide his feelings.

He walks in after his trusted assistant Anand has briefed about the dos and don’ts: You need to speak a little louder than normal and factor in BSY’s unfamiliarity with English. He settles into a chair that is covered with a white towel. He is also dressed in blinding white, from head to toe. It is all very, well, white. I wonder what psychologist C G Jung (who has something to say on colour and the human personality) would have made of it.

There are a few swamijis dressed in saffron, waiting in the anteroom. I get a glimpse of his puja room where silver seems to dominate. This is not unexpected. In the very first Budget he presented as Karnataka chief minister, BSY included a grant for a Lingayat mutt, proudly owning his caste as well as his religion.

He offers me coffee, which I decline politely — when visiting Bengaluru, you tend to swim in coffee. It is too late for lunch, so he presses dry fruit on me.

He is just back from a gruelling tour of the interiors of the state — a routine he has been following for close to two months now. A typical day begins with breakfast with a group of Dalit families. On one occasion, news reports said he elected to order food from a hotel rather than eat with them. He explains that the family, which had invited him, had expected 50 people; 250 turned up. Obviously, food ran out and the host, rather than be inhospitable, ordered food from outside. 

He waves the controversy away. “What is worrying is that funds meant for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe welfare are lapsing because this government is not using them optimally. I am not saying this, madam. In Siddaramaiah’s own party, there are people who are unhappy. They are the ones who are giving this information,” he says. He says that in four years, the central government has given more than Rs 1 lakh crore to the state. But the Karnataka deficit has crossed Rs 1.15 lakh crore. “So where is the money going?”

He answers his own question: “This is the only big state the Congress is ruling… The state government is managing everything for the Congress, all over India.”

I ask him about his views on the minorities in Karnataka. “They are with us,” he answers instantly. I expect him to quote “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”. But then he says: “Madam, we don’t need anyone else. We have the support of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes. The Lingayats are with us. Some Vokkaligas are with Deve Gowda (H D Deve Gowda, the most important Vokkaliga leader in the state). But most communities have left the Congress.”

He explains that he spends every morning in a Dalit colony, meeting thousands of people and trying to understand their problems. I wonder how it is then that the BJP lost two important Assembly by-elections (Gundlupet and Nanjangud) earlier this year. 

“We got 43 per cent of the vote in Gundlupet and 46 per cent in Nanjangud,” he retorts. This much is true: The BJP has never been strong in south Karnataka where the two constituencies are located. Interestingly, that is the region that he belongs to — Shikaripura in Shimoga is his adopted home. He was born and brought up in Hassan, in a modest family where he used to help his father sell lemons in a small shop. He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and adopted the karyalaya (office) as his home.

I tell him my feedback is that the communities that propelled the Congress to victory are still substantially with the ruling party. If the BJP comes within striking distance of attaining power but falls just short, will he take Deve Gowda’s help to form the government? His response is vehement. “Never” he says. “The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and the Congress can come together. But even together they will not be able to form a government.” After a moment’s reflection, he adds, “You can’t believe Deve Gowda and his sons.”

The hurt is evident. In 2006, the JDS and the BJP joined hands to each serve 20 months  in power. Deve Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy became chief minister. But when it was Yeddyurappa’s turn to be CM, Kuamaraswamy reneged on the agreement. “In this house, we finalised the arrangement. I asked for nothing (when he was CM). But he began dictating terms when my turn came. Some of our own people collaborated with the JD-S. They, along with Kumaraswamy, cheated us.”

He repeats: “Our own people cheated us.” He names two top BJP leaders: Jagadish Shettar, fellow Lingayat; and D V Sadananda Gowda, who succeeded Yeddyurappa when he was asked to quit on charges of corruption.

“What was the darkest period of your life,” I ask him. “I had to go to jail,” he says bitterly, almost whispering. “I was there only for 29 days — because I could not get bail. When I finally got bail, the judge said this (denial of bail) doesn’t happen even in Pakistan.”

“What did you do in jail,” I ask curiously. “I used to read the Gita, read books and newspapers,” he says. 

I ask him about the chief minister and the Congress government. “Arrogance, madam. Too much arrogance. They are removed from the people. Ministers don’t want to bother about the pain of the poor, they are only interested in how they can get contracts, make money. Karnataka has seen three years of severe drought. You need to wipe the tears of farmers, console families where the head of the family has committed suicide because he could not pay his debts. Instead, these people are enjoying life.”

What will he do if he becomes chief minister? “Develop tourism,” he says instantly. “Investors want to come to Karnataka. But there is no encouragement for them. I was the one who set up the Global Investors Meet. That encouraged so many industries to come up in Karnataka. This is what I am saying to people — that with Narendra Modi in charge at the Centre, you need a person here who will translate his ideas of self-respect and employment in the state.” 

“So the next time we meet, will it be with you as chief minister,” I ask artlessly. He beams and goes off to meet the swamijis.