Unravelling BSY's Plan B: Why BJP was spared

Vicky Nanjappa explains Yeddyurappa's Plan B, and tells us what made him go soft on Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday.

Many would have expected fireworks at former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa rally on Friday, where he formally broke ties with Bharatiya Janata Party to form his Karnataka Janata Party. But that never happened.

Yeddyurappa has been cribbing about the BJP leadership for sometime now and also the manner in which he was 'let down'.

Analysts view this soft peddling by Yeddyurappa as a clever move. He has intentionally spoken soft so that he could leave a door open in case things do not go down too well for him and his party in the future.

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The fact of the matter is that Yeddyurappa never wanted to quit the BJP in the first place. The first time he threatened to resign he had no intentions of quitting the party, leave alone launching a new outfit.

However, the BJP leadership sensed that and chose not to react as they too believed that Yeddyurappa would never quit the party.

Yeddyurappa, on the other hand, felt that his party would give him a good deal and continued to issue threats.

However, the Central Bureau of Investigation cases against him changed his stand. He realised that with none in the BJP coming to his rescue he would be doomed in case the CBI arrested him. He then issued pro-Congress statements in an attempt to appease the party thinking they would tell the CBI to go soft on him.

However, the Congress expected more than just statements. Yeddyurappa was made to believe that if he quit the BJP and took its chances, the Congress would come to his rescue. He also assured the Congress of a post-poll alliance.

Yeddyurappa is well aware of the fact that his prospects would slowly diminish if he allies with the Congress as they are looking to finish off regional power centres.

Yeddyurappa is a confused man today. Although he has a lot of individual following, he knows for a fact that the BJP tag is what completed him. If one looks at the manner in which he spoke today it is clear he did not want to antagonise the BJP.

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He picked his targets carefully today:

"I have been betrayed by Nitin Gadkari."

"Advani was misguided by Ananth Kunmar."

"I will not shake the BJP government."

"I wish Jagadish Shettar all the best."

"I have told my loyalist MLAs to work hard for the government."

"The BJP has given me everything."

"I am not happy about quitting the BJP, it is my saddest day."

"I will never destroy the BJP."

Yeddyurappa has clearly not chosen the path of either Uma Bharati or Kalyan Singh who went hammer and tongs against the party when they quit. He targeted BJP president Gadkari knowing fully well that his run as party president was coming to an end.

Targeting BJP leader from Karnataka Ananth Kumar makes no difference to anyone in the BJP. He was very guarded against BJP veteran L K Advani. He chose not to speak about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Arun Jaitley or Sushma Swaraj.

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These are indications of a plan B.

Yeddyurappa would remain out of the party and form the Karnataka Janata Party for sure. He has come too far today to go back on his word. He would incline towards the Congress for sometime till there is clarity on his CBI cases. However, he would look to return to the BJP or at least be an ally in the near future.

This move is very important for Yeddyurappa. Not only does he realise this, but even his supporters in the BJP and also on the field would hope for the same.

It is also said that Yeddyurappa would wait for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to move to the Centre and hope that he would come to his rescue.

There is a good part of the BJP which realises the importance of Yeddyurappa as the only vote puller for the party in Karnataka.

He would wait for the leadership to change in New Delhi and hence he decided only to target a select few who would be irrelevant in the party after a year.

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