Chief Minister B.S.

Yediyurappa

BJP leader BS Yediyurappa was sworn in as new Chief Minister of

Karnataka by Governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday [26/7], marking an end to
over 15 days long political drama. The new government sought a vote of
confidence on Monday [29 July] in the state Assembly and was successful
in winning it.

Karnataka Assembly speaker K R Ramesh on Sunday disqualified 14

rebel MLAs with immediate effect till end of the term of the assembly ahead
of Monday’s confidence vote for chief minister B S Yediyurappa. Eleven of
the lawmakers disqualified are from the Congress and three from the
Janata Dal (S). The resignation of the MLAs which began on July 6,
eventually led to the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy government on July
23 after a trust vote.

Ramesh Kumar, the Speaker said that on being advised by the chief
minister he had directed the secretariat to convene a session on Monday at

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11 am. “Therefore I have to make my pronouncement on the remaining
complaints pending before the Speaker.”

Shri B.S. Yedyurappa was born to Shri Siddalingappa, a farmer and

Smt. Puttatayamma at Bookanakere of Krishnarajpet Taluk in Mandya
District on 27th February 1943 in the family of two brothers and two sisters.
He completed his B.A. Graduation in Bangalore. He came in to the contact
of RSS and started his service to the mother nation at the age of 15 only.

In 1965 Shri Yedyurappa went to Shikaripura in Shivamogga district

for spreading the work of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He developed a
good rapport with the public and people of Shikaripura because of his
simplicity and uncompromising dedication towards the work.

He married Smt. Maitradevi on March 5th 1967 and is blessed with

two sons and three daughters. He worked as a Sangha Karyavaha during
1970-72. In 1972 at the age of 29 years he entered public life by becoming
the Taluk President of Janasangh in Shikaripura. From 1974 to 1976 he
served as the Director of Veerashaiva Cooperative Society and rendered a
good service in the field of cooperative sector.

In 1976, he was elected as Town Municipality Member of Shikaripur

During 1975 emergency period he was imprisoned for forty five days at
Shivamogga and Ballari prisons. In 1977, he became Municipality
President and was very popular among the public because of his people
oriented outlook. He was also elected as the President of Janata Party in
the same year.

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 In May 2008, Yedyurappa led the BJP to a historic victory in the state
and became chief minister for a second time, but he had to quit in July
2011 due to alleged corruption. His third stint as chief minister was for only
six days from May 17 to May 23 in 2018 as he resigned citing lack of
majority.

Shri Yedyurappa is a born leader. He has a great concern for the

farmers and the marginalized poor. He espoused the cause of more than
1700 bonded labourers and led a team of 1700 bonded labourers to the
Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner’s Office demanding release and
rehabilitation of the Bonded Labourers; because of his efforts all the
labourers got compensation and are leading a life of freedom.

Shri Yedyurappa fought for upholding the rights of Bagar Hukum

Farmers (Landless people who unauthorisedly cultivate Govt. lands) and
prevented the Forest Department from planting Eucalyptus saplings in the
lands which was in the possession of the Bagar Hukum Farmers.

During August 1987, he travelled all over Shikaripura Taluk on bicycle

to survey the drought and visited all the villages to have the firsthand
experience of the ill effects of the drought and as a result, Government took
drought relief work on war footing basis.

He entered Karnataka Legislative Assembly by winning the 1983

elections. His work for the farmers, scheduled caste and scheduled tribes
resulted in him being elected to the assembly four times successively-
between 1983 and 1994. This election proved to be a turning point in his
public life and shaped his political career. In 1985, he was also elected as
the BJP President for Shivamogga District and worked for the party’s

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growth. He was elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the 2nd time
in 1985 Elections. He worked as Karnataka State BJP President from 1988
to 1991. He was elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the 3rd time
in 1989 elections.

Since then, he has been continuously working for strengthening the

party and is today recognized as one of the great leader. He has been
elected four times to the assembly and twice as President of the Party. He
has played an active role in many campaigns. He has fought for causes in
the assembly and outside it too. From Basavanakalyan to Banavasi he has
conducted many meetings to familiarize the BJP with rural Karnataka.

He has undertaken the ‘Save Gramarajya’ and took Padayatra from

Shivamogga to Benglauru to urge the Government to hold Panchayat
Elections. To urge the government to wave off farmers loans he travelled
the entire state three times beginning from Basavana Bagewadi. In these
trips, he made over 1000 public speeches.

When he was the lone BJP MLA in Karnataka assembly, he

performed Satyagraha in the assembly to urge the government to abolish
the bill which provided for attachment of the properties of the SC/STs. He
shed tears explaining the hardships faced by these groups and his efforts
led to the government agreeing to his requests. It is on record that the then
Forest Minister Shri Rachaiah supported him by stating that Yeddyurappa
had opened their eyes.

When there was a notion that the BJP is a party for urban people,
Shri Yedyurappa proved people wrong by working for farmers and
agriculture workers and BJP has been recognized as the farmer’s party.

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The BJP started growing as a parallel farmer’s organization. Recognizing
this, several leaders of the farmer’s organizations joined the party, making
it dearer to the farmers. Shri Yedyurappa worked very hard to endear BJP
to farmers and labourers.

He was first elected to the lower house of Karnataka Legislature in

1983 and has since represented the Shikaripur constituency seven times.
He has been a member of the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh,
Twelfth and Thirteenth Legislative Assemblies (lower house) of Karnataka.

He became the State BJP President for the 2nd time during 1998-99.

He also worked as national Secretary, BJP during 1992. He was elected to

Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the 4th time during 1994 elections and
functioned as the Opposition Leader in Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

He was elected to Karnataka Legislative Council in 2000 and

remained as Member of Legislative Council (MLC) till 2004. He was elected
to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the 5th time in 2004 elections
and functioned as the Opposition Leader from June 2004 to February 2006.

He was elected as the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka on 3rd

February 2006 in the JD(S) and BJP Coalition Government. Shri.
Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka on
November 12, 2007.

As Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Successfully presented two

budgets with a thrust on Development and People welfare.

In Karnataka’s 2008 Assembly elections, Yedyurappa contested from

Shikaripura won the election by a margin of over 45,000 votes. He took the

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oath of office as Chief Minister on May 30, 2008. He is the first person from
the BJP to become the Chief Minister of a South Indian state and first Chief
Minister to present a separate agricultural budget.

New initiatives:
Loan waiver, Abolition of Arrack and Lotteries, Farm Credit at 4% interest
rate, Bhagyalakshmi Scheme to empower girl children from BPL families,
Distribution of Free Bicycles to 8th Standard students from BPL families,
Suvarna Kayaka Employment Training Scheme to tackle unemployment
problem, Sandhya Suraksha ,Social Security Pension Scheme for Senior
Citizens etc.

July 2019:

Going to the Governor with the required number of support in the assembly
would be a logical conclusion of Yedyurappa s persistence, patience and
numerous attempts to return to power. At 76, he has crossed BJP's
unwritten retirement age of 75.

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 B.S. Yedyurappa on Sunday said his party would continue good
welfare programmes launched by the Siddaramaiah government.

At a meet the press organised by the Press Club of Bangalore, Mr.

Yedyurappa said the BJP would continue some of the flagship programmes
of the Congress government, with their names changed. As an alternative
to Anna Bhagya, the BJP would implement Anna Dasoha scheme for
providing food items for free to BPL families and subsidised food items to
APL families, he said.

To a question on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s claim that the BJP

had copied several of his government’s schemes in its election manifesto,
Mr. Yedyurappa said, “We will continue the good schemes of the Congress
government.”

The BJP would also continue to offer subsidised breakfast, meals and
dinner at Indira canteens in Bengaluru and other urban pockets. “Indira”
canteens, however, would be named after some other good leaders, he
said.

Mr. Yedyurappa said his government would ensure equal treatment to all
communities.

“Transparency, corruption-free governance and development” would be

given priority, he said.

Congress a divided house, he says.

The BJP leader alleged that the Congress was a divided house with
leaders such as Mr. Siddaramaiah, Leader of the Congress in the Lok
Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge and KPCC president G. Parameshwara

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moving in different directions. The three Congress leaders had not shared
a dais in the recent election campaign, he claimed.

The H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government lost the confidence

motion in the Assembly on Tuesday (23-7-2019) after just 14 months in
power. It is victory of democracy, says BS Yeddyurappa.

The BJP legislature party met Wednesday (24 July) before its MLAs
went to Governor Vajubhai Vala to stake claim. The BJP is a natural
claimant with majority on its side in the House of which the strength is
reduced now. We will be looking to take the responsibility and we will be
following the directions of our national president and parliamentary board,
P Muralidhar Rao, BJP general secretary in charge of Karnataka, told The
Indian Express.

We have B S Yeddyurappa as the leader of our party and we had

sought the mandate under his leadership. Taking all factors into
consideration, the leadership will take a decision, he said.

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 Former C M and Janata Dal (Secular) leader Kumaraswamy on
Saturday [27-7-2019] said that his party will not join hands with the
Bharatiya Janata Party. We'll build the party by 'janseva'. Our fight for the
common man will continue, Kumaraswamy said.

The JD(S) also released a statement which read: Party workers and
leaders shouldn't pay heed to rumours about JDS joining hands with BJP.
That is just rubbish and baseless. Let's rebuild the party by reaching out
and helping people. We will always work for the people. Joining BJP means
working against the people.

Kumaraswamy lost power after over 16 Congress-JD(S) MLAs

resigned from the Assembly and did not take part in the confidence motion.