Yeddyurappa, Handed A Mission By PM Modi, Is Back In Karnataka

Bengaluru: BS Yeddyurappa is back today as the BJP's Karnataka chief, officially taking charge as hundreds mobbed the party's best known face in the state.

The former Karnataka chief minister has shrugged off several controversies and allegations of corruption to make a comeback to a post he has held three times before. He told NDTV that he has carried back a clear brief from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

"Our aim is to get absolute majority in the next election. That is the target they have given us," said Mr Yeddyurappa, who had quit the BJP in 2012 and joined the party again about a year later. In the interim he launched a party that played spoiler for the BJP in assembly elections and the Congress won.

As he takes over, rivals in the party too have fallen in line. Like Union minister, Ananth Kumar, who said, "This is the fourth time he is becoming president of the party unit. In 2008 he brought BJP to power, first ever time in south India. I think he will repeat the performance in 2018."

Mr Yeddyurappa was the BJP's first chief minister in south India and no other party leader has been able to demonstrate mass appeal equal to his. Which is probably why the BJP overlooked corruption charges that still linger, though courts have quashed most of the 21 cases against him.  

Karnataka's chief minister, Siddaramaiah of the Congress has, however, indicated that the state government may ask the Supreme Court to review several High Court's decisions clearing Mr Yeddyurappa. "We are examining it. We will go by the opinion of the law department," Mr Siddaramaiah told reporters.

Mr Yeddyurappa, who draws support from the powerful Lingayat community, says he is not worried about what he calls a political move to discredit him. He says he has done no wrong and has "100 per cent confidence" that he will "get justice in the court."