As Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa is all set to celebrate his 77th birthday on a grand scale, the faction rid BJP State unit seems to be in a churn. An unsigned and anonymous letter, being widely circulated in the party and on social media, has called for change of leadership citing his alleged “age-related health issues”.
The letter comes in the wake of dissatisfaction among several senior BJP legislators over not making it to the Cabinet during the recent expansion.
The letter cites the Chief Minister’s alleged age-related issues and says it was better if he retired from electoral politics and turned a “margadarshak”. The letter further suggests that the party should use his experience by making him Governor.
However, sources close to the Chief Minister argued that Mr. Yediyurappa was “fit” as reflected in his extensive touring of the State. “He remains the only mass leader for the BJP in the State as was evident in the recent victory in Assembly bypolls,” a strategist close to him said. He also claimed that the Chief Minister had “full blessing of the BJP Central leadership”.
The authors of the four-page letter, who claim to be “staunch followers of Mr. Yediyurappa”, give considerable space praising his role in bringing the party to power and say that “they made him Chief Minister despite the high command not liking it”. But the letter says it was painful to see how owing to age-related issues, he had become “weak, helpless, and inactive”. Alleging that the Chief Minister had built a fort around himself, the letter says his family members of four generations were interfering in administration. The letter alleges that Mr. Yediyurappa has been asking legislators and other party leaders to meet his son B.Y. Vijayendra over administrative issues.
The letter also alleges that the Chief Minister doesn’t let anyone in the Lingayat-Veerashaiva community grow.
