In Shikaripura, voters love 'serial weeper' Yeddyurappa

Many well wishers of Yeddyurappa are still hopeful that he will go back to the BJP fold, says Vicky Nanjappa

Shikaripura was one of the most keenly-watched constituencies during the Karnataka election in 2008, as it was the bastion of then Bharatiya Janata Party leader and chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa.

The clamour around this constituency has died down considerably since Yeddyurappa walked out of the BJP to float the Karnataka Janata Party.

Since a victory for Yeddyurappa is assured in Shikaripura, the former CM is rarely found here. He spends most of his time campaigning for party candidates in other constituencies and pledging to bring down the BJP.

Sympathy for the KJP leader runs high among the voters in Shikaripura.

"The BJP has betrayed him. He brought the party to power. We were so proud when a leader from our constituency became the chief minister. Irrespective of which party he belongs to, we will continue to back Yeddyurappa. He has done a lot for us and has been by our side for the last three decades," said Lingaraj, a voter from the constituency.

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But Yeddyurappa's role in state politics has changed drastically in the last five years.

In 2008, at a rally in Shikaripura, he had said, "I swear to bring the BJP to power in Karnataka."

Today, he is often seen taking vows to demolish the BJP in Karnataka.

Other political parties have been wise enough not to field any major candidates to contest against Yeddyurappa.

Congress has fielded Shantha Veerappa Gowda and the BJP has fielded S H Manjunath.

In 2008, both the Congress and the Janata Dal – Secular had decided not to field any candidate against Yeddyurappa since the Samajwadi Party had decided to pit the late Bangarappa against the strongman.

Bangarappa, who held the formidable record of never losing an election, had forfeited his own seat at Soraba to take on the CM hopeful.

Despite being the star campaigner of the BJP in 2008, Yeddyurappa had spent most of his time in Shikaripura as he was apprehensive about the threat posed by Bangarappa.

That the wily politician did not forget his voters after being elected to the top post is evident from the development of Shikaripura. The single-lane road running through the town has given way to a four-lane path.

According to locals, the water woes of the area have been resolved to a great extent and farmers' grievances are addressed properly by the former BJP leader.

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Many well wishers of Yeddyurappa are still hopeful that he will go back to the BJP fold.

"We are so used to seeing him as a part of the BJP. We feel sad that his bond with the party has broken. He has won six times from here and we know that he will win this time too. We feel that the fight with the BJP is temporary and the patch-up will take place after the elections," said Manjunath, a farmer from Shikaripura.

During his interaction with the locals, Yeddyurappa speaks emotionally about his exit from the BJP. Branded a 'serial weeper' by many of his critics, Yeddyurappa breaks down several times while delivering his campaign speeches.

While reaching out to voters, he maintains that he himself is a "farmer" and will therefore continue to work for them. He also talks about why voting for a regional party in Karnataka would alleviate the problems of the people.

Yeddyurappa, whose party will eat into the vote share of the BJP, is confident of a good performance not only in Shikaripura but in the entire Shimoga district.

He has sworn to bring down BJP senior leader K S Eshwarappa in Shimoga constituency.

While Eshwarappa is a popular leader, he is not quite the favourite of the masses as Yeddyurappa used to be, and the BJP is sure to miss the charisma of the former CM in the state election.

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