Stage set for Yediyurappa son's entry into cabinet

Bengaluru: The stage is all set for former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa's son B.Y. Vijayendra's entry into the State cabinet. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday announced that the core committee of the party had decided to reccommend the name of Vijayendra for the post of MLC. Yediyurappa proposed the name of Vijayendra in the core committee meeting.

"We will send his name to the high command, which will take a call on the matter," Bommai stated.

The development has triggered a debate in the political circles as well as within the BJP. Vijayendra is being projected as the inheritor of Yediyurappa's political legacy. Sources said that he is being projected and groomed to emerge as a prominent Lingayat leader.

Vijayendra's plans to enter the State legislature was curtailed by the party leaders during the 2018 Assembly elections when the BJP denied him a ticket at the last minute. Vijayendra had already started campaigning then.

However, the party acknowledged his strength as he ensured the victory of BJP candidates in K.R. Nagar and Sira in the bypolls, where they won for the first time. Sources said that some party leaders complain that Vijayendra had overshadowed his father Yediyurappa during the latter's tenure as the CM. Yediyurappa wants to groom Vijayendra as his successor. He wants to make him an MLC and ensure a prominent cabinet berth for him, sources said.

The decision over the matter will have direct impact on the party's prospects in the 2023 Assembly elections.