A campaign is building up against Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa in the ruling BJP in Karnataka. This follows the denial of ministerial berths to several party old-timers in the February 6 cabinet expansion and the chief minister’s reported bid to secure an influential post for his son B.Y. Vijayendra in the party organisation.

For over a week now, two unsigned letters (in English and Kannada) have been circulating in BJP circles, citing Yediyurappa’s age and failing health’ and his attempts to empower his son, and demanding the appointment of a new chief minister. Yediyurappa, who turns 77 on February 27, has drawn the ire of senior BJP leaders, such as Umesh Katti, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, Murugesh Nirani, M.P. Renukacharya, Siddu Savadi, Sanganna Karadi and Anand Mamani, as they were left out of the cabinet. Katti and Nirani met BJP president J.P. Nadda in the first week of February to lodge a complaint.

The rebellion’ against Yediyurappa has been launched by Lingayat leaders in the state BJP. The Lingayats, the sect to which Yediyurappa also belongs, make up about 17 per cent of Karnataka’s population and have been BJP loyalists. The infighting began when BSY, beholden to the 10 MLAs who had defected from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) last year and helped the BJP come to power in Karnataka, was forced to accommodate them in government.