The Yediyurappa faction is now planning to hold a series of conventions starting Friday, culminating in a mega public meeting in Bengaluru on March 4.
The BJP has a strong voter base in the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, to which Yediyurappa belongs.
His decades of work within the community played a crucial role in strengthening the BJP in Karnataka, ultimately leading to the party forming the government multiple times. Yediyurappa himself has served as the CM of the state four times.
However, his critics within the party, particularly the faction led by Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, are now working to allegedly weaken his influence over the community.
Recently, Yatnal, who is also a Lingayat, organised a meeting where BJP’s Lingayat leaders called for distancing themselves from Vijayendra.
In response, the Yediyurappa-Vijayendra faction has launched a counter-campaign, holding meetings with Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders and religious pontiffs to consolidate support.
Yediyurappa’s staunch supporter, M P Renukacharya, announced on Thursday that a mega convention of Veerashaiva-Lingayats would take place in Bengaluru on March 4.
“We have decided to organise a meeting tomorrow at 12 pm in Dobbespet, Nelamangala, near Bengaluru. Another meeting will be held at 1 pm at the Veerashaiva-Lingayat Samudaya Bhavan in Tumakuru,” Renukacharya told reporters after a strategy meeting with Yediyurappa faction leaders.
Additionally, a gathering for community leaders and pontiffs from Davangere, Chitradurga, and Haveri districts will be held at Samruddhi Convention Hall on Davangere National Highway on Friday, he added.
“On March 4, at 11 am, a grand convention is planned at Gayatri Grand in Bengaluru Palace Grounds, where Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders from Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Hassan, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura, and Kolar will participate. We are not inviting big leaders,” the former minister said.
Criticising the anti-Vijayendra group, Renukacharya stated, “Recently, some evil forces tried to divide the community. We, Veerashaivas and Lingayats, are one”.
He mentioned that only a few pontiffs would attend Friday’s event, but on March 4, Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders and pontiffs from across the state would be invited.
Renukacharya emphasised that he and his supporters were striving for unity by organising such events.
“We are sending a clear message that the entire community stands with Yediyurappa and Vijayendra. We will not back down,” he asserted.
When asked whether the convention was a response to the Yatnal faction’s recent meeting, he said, “We are not doing this to counter some shameless people. They are not our leaders. They are like rejected coins. Don’t waste our time talking about them. Our only goal is to reaffirm that Yediyurappa and Vijayendra have the community’s backing.” To a question if Yatnal would attend, Renukacharya said individuals were secondary. The event was being held to declare that Yediyurappa and Vijayendra are the true leaders of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.
“Those who want to repay their debt to Yediyurappa should come. Everyone in the BJP is indebted to him. The party would not have come to power in Karnataka if not for his relentless efforts across the state,” he said.
The Yatnal faction has been actively opposing Yediyurappa and Vijayendra.
The BJP Central Disciplinary Committee issued show-cause notices to Yatnal twice in the recent past for his remarks against Yediyurappa and his family, as well as for his campaign activities, which have been deemed detrimental to the party’s image in the state.
