WATCH | Operation Kamala not wrong, no regret: BSY

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa, 3-time Chief Minister of Karnataka, BJP state president and the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, speaks with Deccan Herald ahead of the high-profile 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The drama quotient is high and DH Political Theatre will be where the action is, as always. As part of our digital coverage, we are bringing you a series of live interactions with political leaders of national and regional importance.

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So you will be a governor then?

Yeddyurappa: I won't take such a position in this life time.

Will Yeddyurappa be treated like Advani and Joshi after the elections?

Yeddyurappa: Joshi and Advani have been treated fairly. After the election, I will do what the party assigns to me. If the national leaders decide that I should play the role of'margadarshak', then I will do it.

On supporting Sumalatha

Yeddyurappa: We will nominate our party candidate. But if there is a necessary, we will withdraw our candidate to support Sumalatha.Such a step is required to take on the father-son duo (Deve Gowda-Kumaraswamy).

Will you take responsibility if BJP wins less than 14 seats?

Yeddyurappa: Such a question will not arise. We will win 22 seats.

On reports of divisions within BJP

Yeddyurappa: There are just rumours. BJP is the only party working with unity.

Will Ramesh Jarkiholi come to BJP for Chikkodi?

Yeddyurappa: No. Such reports are not true.

Anant Kuamr Hegde's statement that BJP will change Constitution

Yeddyurappa: THat statement was not 100% correct. It has been twisted for politicisation.

On BJP's promises of Ram temple in Ram Janmabhumi

Yeddyurappa: There is a case going on in SC. We will build Ram temple 100%

Why is there no 'adarsha' grama (Modi's pet project)

Yeddyurappa: For that funds are needed.

On finding candidates in some constituencies

Yeddyurappa: We have difficulties in some places because we are searching for a leader who can defeat the entrenched leaders. For example, in Hassan, we need a strong candidate who can take on the Gowda family.

On Shobaha not being accessible, Pratap not being accessible by people in Kodagu

Yeddyurappa: As far as I know, Pratap Simhais one of the most active and effective MPs. Same way Shobha Karandlaje has toured the entire state as an MP. There may be some inside the party who may have complained. But that is not a verdict.

Who is your next front man?

Yeddyurappa: There is no shortage of leaders. The next BJP frontman will emerge eventually.

On politicians retiring after attaining old age

Yeddyurappa: There should be no bar based on age. Age brings experience. It is an asset too. I will contest the next election.

Modi promised 2 crore jobs but created only 27 lakh jobs

Yeddyurappa: Unemployment is a huge issue. It is not direct employment. Crores of people have got jobs through development works in railways and highways.

On Opposition parties' behavior in the Parliament

Yeddyurappa:They behaved in an undemocratic way. You should attend parliament and air your views inside. Sitting in dharna outside is an attempt to halt the function of Parliament.

On Hindutva

Yeddyurappa: It is the Congress which had been trying to fan communal fires. Siddaramaiah finally accepted he is a Hindu.We have seen everyone as equal.Now they are accepting our ways.

On separate religion status for Lingayat

Yeddyurappa: Both Congress and JDS leaders have learnt their lesson by trying to divide peoplein the name of religion.

On promise made towards Mahadayi

Yeddyurappa: It is now left to the state government. The centre has done its part in giving clearances. The state government has totally ignored irrigation works.

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Even during Siddaramaiah's time promises were made on realising Mahadayi. But his budgets did not allocate any money for that. Same thing is happening with this govt.

Will there be an 'Operation Kamala' again?

Yeddyurappa: It was necessitated by the fact that we won 110 seats and required 4 members support. We had to do that to form govt in Karnataka. It won't happen now.

Operation Kamala was not wrongand I don't regret it. It is part of democracy.

On allegations that he tried to bring down coalition govt in Karnataka

Yeddyurappa: You only reported that 20 MLAs in the ruling coalition were against the government. So I made a remark that if they fall down, we will bring our government. Why should we pull down a govt?

I have not fixed any deadline for the government. Those were observations made after seeing the internal squabbles in the coalition.

On Anant Kumar Hegde's controversial statements

Yeddyurappa: We have all advised him to take a moderate approach. We have generally told him that all leaders should keep themselves in limits.

On Supporting Sumalatha

Yeddyurappa: BJP should support Sumalatha is the aspiration of the people. There is no doubt about that. I have suggested that to central leaders. They will take a call.

On reports that Yeddyurappa is not listening to Central leaders (high command)

Yeddyurappa: True that I said all sitting BJP MPs will get a ticket, but the truth will be known in the evening.

On Centre removing Kannada as mandatory language in banking sector employment eligibility requirement

Yeddyurappa: In Karnataka, Kannada should be given prominence but in today's competitive world, we should allow all to compete.

Why is PM Modi keeping media away?

Yeddyurappa: He has his own understanding of the media. He has his own style of administration.

On allegations of Centre acting like autocratic govt

Yeddyurappa: PM has taken everyone along. He has listened to criticism. Allegations of authoritarianism are wrong. All cabinet ministers are working independently. He is not interfering in others' work.

How many women get tickets this LS polls?

Yeddyurappa: We have planned to give ticket to three tickets to women. It will be known by evening today.

On promise of crores of rupees for JD(S) leader

Yeddyurappa: Kumaraswamy sat in Bengaluru and orchestrated such a thing. The audio file doesn't have 100% truth.

Will a Muslim or Christian candidate get LS ticket this time?

Yeddyurappa: There are fewer chances for a Muslim or Christian community leader to win from our party.During my term as CM, even though I couldn't help a Muslim candidate win an election, I took a member from that community and made him a minister.

On bid to form his own party (KJP)

Yeddyurappa:I made a big mistake by trying to build a regional party. But I realised that voters of Karnataka do not really give space for regional parties. I have apologised to the people of the state in this regard.

On the bid to field his second son

Yeddyurappa: As I said, it is acceptable if one or two persons get into politics because of people's expectation. What Deve Gowda is doing has no limits.

State politics has become family politics

Yeddyurappa: It is natural if one or two family members of a leader get into politics, provided people desire it. But the brazen way that Deve Gowda family is doing it is wrong. There is no limit to what they are doing.

On row over the failed bid to form a govt in Karnataka

Yeddyurappa: Speaker called us we are the largest party with more than 100 votes. It was a natural process.

On Cong-JD(S) coalition government

Yeddyurappa: This is a government with thick skin. What is their achievement? JD(S) promised a full loan waiver and got 38 seats. If they had not given false promises, they would not have won more than 20 seats.

On 2019 General Elections

Yeddyurappa: Cong and JD(S) will hurt each other. Recent developments and squabblings show that they are not going well. It will defn=intely have an impact in the elections.

On Pulwama attacks statement that embarrassed BJP

Yeddyurappa: I never said the attack will bring votes. I only spoke about the BJP's performance in the national security sector. It was unnecessarily politicised.

On reports that Yedyurappa has more pull in Karnataka than Modi

Yeddyurappa: I don't agree with that. Modi is bigger than anyone. He is our leader.

On reports that BJP will win because of Modi wave

Here Modi and and BJP are not different. We will win because of our works in the areas of development, national security, anti-corruption and good relationship with foreign countries.

Q: You have target for 22; what about 8?

We will contest all the 28 seats. Our aim is to limit the Cong-JDS seats to 8, says Yeddyurappa.

Former Chief Minister and Opposition leader Yeddyurappa is in the news for his untiring and unrelenting struggles as well as for some of the controversies.

As a visionary leader, he opened the door of south India for BJP. Now, with a vision to win 22 seats in the Lok Sabha Elections he has started the campaign.

Hello viewers, welcome to latest edition of Politicial Theater with DH. Today, we have with us three-time Chief Minister of Karnataka, BJP state president and the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly BS Yeddyurappa.

WATCH | BS Yeddyurappa in conversation with DH

Yeddyurappa, BJP’s Karnataka mascot

Seventy-six-year-old Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappahas been in active politics for almost 50 years. Rising from the ranks of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS), of which he was a member since his college days, he held various posts in local administrative bodies and rose to become the state president of the BJP and thenthe first, and only, chief minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka between 2008-2011.

He is credited with being the architect of the BJP’s southern expansion.Karnataka remains the only Southern state where the BJP has a strong presence and loyal support base. Much of this has to do with the fact that the party chose to projectYeddyurappa, one of the strongest leaders from the influential Lingayat community, as its regional face and mascot.

Although, Yeddyurappa hails from the Bookanakere village in Mandya district but his political home is Shimoga.He had a steady climb up the rungs of the political ladder: In 1970, he was appointed as secretary of Shikaripura unit of the RSS. Later, he was elected to the town municipality and ascended to the post of president in 1975. He also became the president of the Jana Sangh in Shikaripura.

During the emergency, he served jail terms in Bellary and Shimoga prisons. After the formation of the BJP, he became the Shimoga district president in 1985 and by 1988 he became the state president of the party. Except in 1999, Yeddyurappa was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the Shikaripura constituency eight times. He is thesitting MLA from the seat currently.

Yeddyyurappa was the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly in 1994, 2004 and 2018 and the deputy chief minister in the HD Kumaraswamy government between 2006 and 2007. Following the collapse of the Janata Dal (Secular)-BJP alliance, Yeddyurappa became the chief minister of Karnataka, but only for a week. He returned to the CM office in 2008 with a historic victory. His stint continued till 2011 when the allegations of corruption forced him to resign.

In 2012, Yeddyurappa launched Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) after he quit BJP following the differences with party leadershipbutreturned totheBJP in 2014. The party projectedhimas their chief ministerial candidate in 2018 Assembly elections –something they had failed to do in the 2013 polls. But it fell short of a simple majority, although it still was the single largest party. In the government formation exercises that followed,Yeddyurappa took oath as a chief minister for two days before resigningjust before afloor test.