Seniors are angry with BY Vijayendra’s promotion
Bengaluru: While many are celebrating the appointment of young MLA BY Vijayendra as party president, many seniors are upset and quietly fuming. First-time MLA Vijayendra’s elevation to the post of state president could mean that an entire generation of BJP leaders senior to him and working for the party will become ‘politically irrelevant’ and may even become the CM face of the party. The opportunity may also be lost. In 2028.
There is an entire generation of leaders – former CM Basavaraj Bommai, former ministers Murugesh Nirani and V Somanna, former Union Minister Basanagouda Yatnal, former national general secretary CT Ravi and many others – who are older than Vijayendra (47) both in age and political influence. Experience, now you will have to take instructions from the first time MLA. Also, by default, Vijayendra is their leader and will probably be the CM face in 2028.
Senior leaders preferred silence rather than making any statement that could be detrimental to their political future. Former national general secretary of the party CT Ravi said, “What has been entrusted to Vijayendra is not power, but responsibility.”
Former minister, Kota Srinivas Pujari made a cryptic comment – that the result of choosing Vijayendra will be known after the Lok Sabha elections. Senior Lingayat leaders Basavaraj Bommai, Yatnal and V Somanna opted for silence. Several senior leaders have privately expressed anger over his promotion and vowed that the party would pay the price for its mistake.
Those upset over Vijayendra’s promotion said that if BS Yediyurappa had chosen one of his loyal followers as party president, it would not have made any difference, but he chose his son, who has set a bad example. An analyst said, “If Yediyurappa’s anger against BJP after being forced to step down led to the party’s disastrous performance in 2023, then what will the collective anger of so many leaders do for the party in 2024?”
A source said it is going to be between Yediyurappa and Vijayendra versus angry leaders. Party’s chief spokesperson Mahesh said, “Nobody is angry.” Politics is arithmetic, we have JDS as our ally, we also have Vokkaliga supporters and other communities on our side. A BJP leader said, ‘Ananth Kumar became the party president when he was younger than Vijayendra. He took BJP from 40 to 87. Age and seniority do not matter. The party that Ananth Kumar built helped his rival Yediyurappa become CM. In the current ‘power politics’, Vijayendra is a good choice.
