BY Vijayendra emerges real winner as lotus blooms in Sira in Tumakuru district

In less than a year, BY Vijayendra, the 44-year old son of chief minister BS Yediyurappa has handed a second win for the BJP in the Assembly bypolls.

The party turned in an impressive show in Sira in Tumakuru district, not by the yardstick of margin of victory, but finding its feet in a set it never hoped to win.

In fact, in the run up to the November 3 bypolls, analysts had written off Sira, and counted only on RR Nagar for the BJP considering Munirathna’s personal strengths in the Bengaluru constituency.

Six weeks before the polls, Yediyurappa drafted a crash team led by his son to Sira. This was a mission critical for Vijayendra for two reasons: one, a clean sweep for the BJP in the two assembly and four legislative council seats would cement his dad’s grip on the party as well as the government. Two, the party would have to acknowledge his skills in voter management if he delivered a win in the tough constituency.

The man wanted to begin his political career from the old Mysuru region -- the chief minister originally hailed from here before migrating to Shivamogga. Vijayendra did some ground work in Mysuru, wanting to contest from Varuna, held by then chief minister Siddaramaiah. But the BJP scuppered his plans probably because it thought it was giving too much of the party’s space to one family. The rival camp within the BJP celebrated this setback; Vijayendra quietly licked his wounds, and was soon back in the battlefields of KR Pete in Mandya district. How he teamed up with leaders including MLC Ravikumar and Thammesh Gowda, and delivered the first win for the party here is history.

It is no secret that Vijayendra, a law graduate, wants to back, and later succeed his father’s political legacy. Unlike Yediyurappa’s growing years, when the party was still in its infancy, the ambitious son is sure to come across roadblocks. Critics within the party often complained Vijayendra remote-controlled his father. Then, there are also people who acknowledge his impressive kills at snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Pratap Gowda Patil, the former MLA, who is contesting from Maski on a BJP ticket this time, issued a statement on Tuesday, seeking him out to manage the election campaign in the ensuing bypolls.

An independent political watcher said Vijayendra adopted a strategy in Sira most parties usually overlook. He figured there were some 40 tiny communities in Sira with about 84,000 votes; he began his work from here, tapping the leaders of these communities. His own Lingayat community voters, he probably thought, were anyway a given for the BJP. “He is among the few young political leaders in Karnataka, who pay attention to minute details and follow up their electoral strategy with meticulous execution.”