BY Vijayendra is the MLA of Shikharipura
BY Vijayendra, the son of former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, has been appointed the party's state unit chief. Mr Vijayendra is the MLA of Shikharipura, from where his father won comfortably in the 2018 Karnataka election.
In May, Mr Vijayendra had won the Shikaripura seat in his electoral debut by a margin of 11,008 votes. In 2020, he was appointed vice president of the BJP's Karnataka unit.
The appointment of Mr Vijayendra, seen as the political heir to Mr Yediyurappa, as state BJP chief, replacing Nalinkumar Kateel, ends months of speculation over a change of guard. This was widely expected since the BJP suffered a big defeat to the Congress in the Assembly election in May.
Though it was always a strong probability that the BJP will pick a Lingayat leader to lead its state unit, its decision to pick the first-time MLA ignoring the dynastic plank, something it has used to target rivals, has highlighted the political importance his father continues to wield despite being eased out of electoral politics by the party.
Mr Yeddyurappa's elder son BY Raghavendra is a Lok Sabha MP and the BJP has often tried to ensure that it is not seen encouraging more than one member of a family in politics.