If anyone thought that the Yeddyurappa era in state politics is over with the former CM facing a string of land and mining scam cases, they could be terribly wrong. By getting his loyalist and housing minister V. Somanna appointed as floor leader in the Legislative Council, Mr Yeddyurappa has proved once again that he still has the last word on important appointments in the party.
Sources said that Mr Somanna—who had migrated from the Congress to the BJP four years ago after the 2008 Assembly polls, was appointed House leader ignoring opposition from BJP state leaders and RSS bigwigs. These leaders had a reason to oppose Mr Somanna’s appointment. With Lingayat strongman Jagadish Shettar already CM and leader of the Legislative Assembly, making another Lingayat the leader of the Upper House would make people suspect that the BJP had a strong Lingayat tilt, they contended.
In fact when Mr Yeddyurappa proposed Mr Somanna for the post of floor leader, BJP state president K.S. Eshwarappa and organizing secretary Santhosh opposed his candidature and proposed the name of Kota Sreenivasa Poojari, who was inducted into the cabinet at the last minute. They felt that if a backward community leader was made House leader, it would send the right signals to the substantial number of backward classes in the state. Another reason why the party was not keen on Somanna was because he is considered an ‘outsider’ in the BJP.
But Mr Yeddyurappa countered this move by proposing the name of his close confidant B.J. Puttaswamy, an OBC leader. He told the leaders that Mr Puttaswamy could handle the House proceedings very well. But the party felt that if Mr Puttaswamy, who had contested as a BJP rebel in the RS polls, was chosen, it would send the wrong signals to party cadre and agreed to Mr Somanna’s nomination, sources said.