Bengaluru: B.Y. Vijayendra, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, missed out on a Cabinet berth in the Basavraj Bommai Government as the BJP High Command decided against the move.
Vijayendra was accused of acting as “super Chief Minister”, allegedly deciding everything for his father. Sources said that it would be detrimental to the image of the party which wants to move ahead of Yediyurappa’s shadow.
Sources said that the party had offered the Deputy Chief Minister’s post to Vijayendra at the time of convincing Yediyurappa to step down. However, it was rejected outright by Yediyurappa. He, in turn, made a futile attempt to anoint Vijayendra as the State Party Chief, which was rejected by the party.
After his resignation, Yediyurappa changed his mind and placed a demand for ministership for his son. However, top leaders decided against it, sources say.
It is also learned that the last-minute confusion in terms of announcing the list of new ministers was because of this reason. Yediyurappa, after learning about the party’s decision, was upset and top leaders had to make personal calls to him to mollify him.
Chief Minister Bommai stated that party President J.P. Nadda and State In-charge Arun Singh had conveyed the message to Yediyurappa.
Vijayendra was denied a ticket, at the last minute, from the Varuna constituency in the last Assembly elections. He was later given the post of State Party Vice President.
