If the negotiations work out, former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa may well be ‘test riding’ Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s cycle in the state.
Sources close to Mr Yeddyurappa said that talks with Mr Yadav were underway with one round already over. Another round of discussion is expected to take place in a day or two.
Ever since it became clear that the party was in no mood to oblige him with the BJP state chief’s post, BSY has been working on alternative options.
One suggestion made by his loyalists was to re-launch the erstwhile Janata Party, now headed by Dr Subramanian Swamy. Mr Yeddyurappa is not too keen on this nor does he favour the JD(U), which is part of the BJP led NDA at the national level, sources said.
Earlier, former CM late S. Bangarappa had made a futile effort to launch the Samajwadi Party in Karnataka.
Sources said that Yeddyurappa who is the most popular Lingayat leader and Mulayam, who is a big draw among the Muslim community, could prove to be a formidable combination during the assembly polls.
There is a huge chunk of ‘Golla’ votes—the equivalent of the Yadav community in Uttar Pradesh— in the state. The Lingayat- Muslim-Golla combination could tilt the scales in more than 55 constituencies.
If Yeddyurappa can swing 5% votes with his personal charisma, the combine could win 20 more seats and become a formidable force in the assembly after the 2013 elections, sources said while explaining the logic behind the BSY-Mulayam talks.
The sources also said that Mr Yeddyurappa may not be interested in helping the NDA alliance, if he is not given prominence in the BJP. This is one of the reasons why he has initiated talks with Mr Yadav, who is supporting the Congress led UPA at the Centre.