The people of the region still cannot believe that Yediyurappa has quit active politics. But they said he was a “born fighter”, and that they will continue to support him. Such is his charisma and influence that several residents that News18 spoke to said they could not think of voting for any other leader.
‘No BJP Without BSY’
Nagaraj, a local masala trader was keenly listening to the Yediyurappa’s speech that he delivered on the floor of the Karnataka assembly. The emotional BJP leader had just announced his retirement from active politics and said this will be the last time he would be standing inside the Vidhan Soudha as an MLA.
“There was a time when Shikaripura was backward and Yediyurappa brought development through drinking water projects, good roads, taluka offices and marriage halls. He has worked hard and that is why we all like him so much. We all are proud of him. Even if Yediyurappa doesn’t come to ask us for our votes, we will still vote in his favour,” Nagaraj said.
“There is no BJP without BSY, and BSY means BJP,” said Geethamma, who is a homemaker born in Shikaripura and has seen the town grow over the years.
“His contribution to Shikaripura, Shimoga, and Karnataka is commendable. Even as a councillor, MLA, or CM, he would always think first about people and how he could make our lives comfortable. That is a quality we admire in him,” she added.
“The farmlands were dry but there is abundant water now, thanks to water schemes brought by him. Yediyurappa ensured water connections in every house,” said Parimala, a vegetable vendor.
‘Hindus & Muslims Live as Brothers’
Shivamogga has also been a region that has seen much communal strife. At the peak of the hijab, halal and Tipu controversies, Muslims in the region said had it been known, it would have had worse consequences for the leader.
“Except for an isolated incident, there has been no violence or communal tension. Hindus and Muslims live as brothers and Yediyurappa has always respected our community,” said Basha Bhai, who runs his business in Shikaripura.
‘Never Seen a Helicopter…’
The newly inaugurated Shivamogga airport was a dream nurtured by Yediyurappa from 2006-07. Soon after leading the BJP to power for the first time in the south Indian state, he laid the foundation stone of the airport on June 20, 2008. Developed at a cost of around Rs 450 crore, it was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 27, which was incidentally Yediyurappa’s 80th birthday.
“There are so many people in Shikaripura Shimoga district who have never even seen a helicopter in their lives. Shikaripura is largely a farming community and some people have not even seen Bengaluru. Now we have our own airport, our very own Shimoga airport,” said Roopa Manjunath, who is thrilled about the Shivamogga airport.
‘Cut out to be man of the masses’
Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa – popularly known as BSY – was born on February 27, 1943, to Puttathayamma and Siddalingappa in the Mandya district’s Bookanakere village. He was named after the presiding deity at the Shiva temple in Yediyur, Tumkuru.
He went on to earn his BA degree from a Mandya college and later worked as a clerk in the Karnataka government’s department of social welfare in 1965. Unable to handle the humdrum existence of a clerk, he resigned and moved to Shikaripura where he joined as a clerk at Veerabhadra Shastri’s rice mill.
Here, he fell in love with the mill owner’s daughter, Mythra Devi, and married her. He opened a hardware store but his love for politics and his fighting spirit pulled him toward the RSS. A born leader, he quickly scaled the ranks of the organisation and soon became the district chief of the Shivamogga RSS.
Over the years as he moved into active politics, he met Padmanabha Bhat, KS Guruswamy and SB Mathad, one of his many close friends who shared his passion for fighting for people’s rights and remained extremely attached to him.
“He was in the RSS and I was there too, that’s how we met. During our time, there was no Jana Sangh in Shikaripura. We helped set it up,” Bhat told News18.
‘Heart of Gold’
Recalling their days when they would take part in protests demanding justice for farmers, coolie workers, mill workers, bonded labourers, or any section of society that needed help, Bhat also emphasised that Yediyurappa was always cut out to be a man of the masses.
“I have participated in so many dharnas with him and have written slogans for him as well. He has a heart of gold and is always ready to listen to the problems of the people,” Bhat said as he headed towards Shikaripura after two days of pooja and festivities surrounding the leader’s 80th birthday.
It was the 1970s that saw Yediyurappa’s meteoric rise. He was elected as a member of the Shikaripura municipal council in 1973 and was jailed during the Emergency. In 1977, he was re-elected councillor and was at the forefront of fighting for the rights of landless agricultural workers and bonded labourers in the district.
During that time, the Karnataka forest department had claimed to plant eucalyptus saplings on the lands given to landless agricultural labourers . He successfully protested the move, and was instrumental in leading a group of over 1,700 bonded labourers from Shivamogga to picket the deputy commissioner’s office seeking their immediate release.
CM four times, but never completed a term
From being credited with building the BJP in Karnataka brick by brick to bringing the party to power in 2008, Yediyurappa lost the first chance to become CM in 2004. The BJP emerged as the single largest party, but the Congress and JD(S) allied and a government was formed under Dharam Singh.
Not one to face defeat, the politically sharp leader engineered a coup and joined hands with Deve Gowda’s son HD Kumaraswamy in a 20-month rotation deal but his term lasted just seven days when Kumarswamy withdrew support. He was made CM once again in 2008 as he led the BJP to power, but had to step down in July 2011 after he was indicted in an illegal mining case. He got the top once again in 2018 and 2019.
Mathad, another farmer leader from Shikaripura and a close associate of Yediyurappa’s, calls him a “special force”.
“Yediyurappa is not the name of a person, it is the name of a special force. I will give a small example. When he was the BJP state president and came from Bengaluru to Shimoga, he found out that there was a shortage of kerosene. Even before he went home, he sat in protest and called all those officials in charge to ensure the supply was restored,” he said.
‘Alive for the people’
In his early days as a politician, Yediyurappa was brutally attacked while on his way to Shikaripura on a bicycle. He was hit on the head by a conductor of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), identified as Churi Shivamurthy. The attacker said he was deployed by the then MLA Venkatappa, who wanted Yediyurappa out of the scene as he grew more powerful. Left to die on the road, he was immediately moved to a hospital where he remained unconscious for close to a month.
“Before slipping into unconsciousness, my brother asked the medics not to tell me about the attack,” BS Prema, Yediyurappa’s younger sister said.
‘Naughty and Playful Child’
Prema fondly remembered how Yediyurappa was a naughty and playful child. She said he would always be found playing some game like cricket or volleyball, which would anger his grandparents with whom they were staying.
“I came to know from the newspapers that he had been attacked. I rushed to him then. He is extremely attached to me and forces me to stay for a few months each time I visit him,” Prema told News18.
His friends said even when his wife Mythra Devi rushed to the hospital, the leader’s first reaction was – ‘Yes I am alive, not for you but for the people so that I can help them and solve their problems’.
Recalling a childhood incident when he was hurt after a game of cricket and was bleeding from his forehead, Prema said he covered his head with a towel and reached home and when asked to show the wound to his grandparents, he refused to do so.
“Instead he asked me to keep quiet and gave me a Rs 5 coin. But I couldn’t help it and told my grandmother about it, who asked him to get it bandaged immediately. Anna then came to me and asked me to return the Rs 5 coin as I had not kept my word,” she said with a smile.
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