BS Yeddyurappa's acquittal in mining case will embolden BJP

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Bangalore on October 26 acquitted former Karnataka chief minister and state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president BS Yeddyurappa in the Rs 40 crore illegal mining graft case.

As many as 13 other accused, including Yeddyurappa’s two sons, BY Vijayendra and BY Raghavendra, son-in-law RN Sohan Kumar and former minister SN Krishnaiah Setty, were also acquitted from all the charges owing to the lack of evidence.

Following the court’s decision, Yeddyurappa thanked his well-wishers, friends and supporters:

The former Karnataka CM was forced to resign in August 2011 after Lokayukta Santosh Hegde indicted him for accepting kickbacks worth Rs 40 crore while he was CM to allow illegal mining in the state.

CBI registered an FIR against him four years ago after the Supreme Court directed the agency to probe charges against him.

Since then Yeddyurappa’s political career has been in shambles. He parted ways with the BJP before the state Assembly elections in 2013 only to return in time for the Lok Sabha elections of 2014.

CBI chargesheet against Yeddyurappa:

The CBI filed a chargesheet on October 16, 2012, accusing Yeddyurappa and 12 others of corruption after investigations supposedly revealed that Rs 20 crore was deposited in the personal bank accounts of Yeddyurappa’s sons and his son-in-law between August and September 2010. The money, the CBI claimed, had come from South West Mining Company, a JSW Steel affiliate, which wanted favours to mine iron ore.

According to the chargesheet, an additional Rs 20 crore was donated by JSW Steel affiliates to Prerana Educational and Social Trust, run by Yeddyurappa’s sons, allegedly to facilitate the waiver of mining dues and push through the pending mining lease applications.

An amount of Rs 6 crore received by Prerana Trust was then transferred to Swamy Vivekananda Vidya Samsthe, where Yeddyurappa was a trustee, the CBI claimed.

He was also accused of illegally selling a one-acre plot of government-notified land near Bangalore to JSW Steel affiliates for Rs 20 crore, allegedly as part of an effort to cover up the receipt of bribe on behalf of the steel firm.

According to CBI, the piece of land was acquired illegally — allegedly by misusing Yeddyurappa’s position as CM — as it was already notified for acquisition by Bengaluru Development Authority. The CBI has produced evidence and witnesses to fortify its case. These include details of the alleged money trail.

How the illegal mining case originated

Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde, in his 2011 report on illegal mining in the state, had referred to the transactions between M/s South West Mining Company and Prerana Trust and recommended a probe, accusing Yeddyurappa of illegally favouring the mining firms.

However, the high court which, in March 2012, quashed the sanction for prosecution granted against him by the governor and the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police on the basis of the fact that the Lokayukta did not issue a notice to Yeddyurappa before making recommendations against him.

Later, Samaj Parivarthan Samtha of SR Hiremath produced the Lokayukta report on illegal mining before the Supreme Court, which sought a report from the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on the mining transactions involving M/s JSW Steel and South West Mining Company.

The Supreme Court, on the recommendation of CEC, in May 2012, directed the CBI to probe the case by registering an FIR and ordered the agency to submit its report to the jurisdictional court in Bengaluru.

Why Yeddyurappa matters

Yeddyurappa led the BJP to its first ever government in the south in 2008 elections and was made the chief minister but was forced to quit in 2011 after he was named in a Lokayukta investigation report into illegal mining activities in the Bellary region of Karnataka.

Yeddyurappa quit the BJP in 2012 after being sidelined in the party and floated the Karnataka Janata Party. The BJP suffered a humiliating loss in the 2013 state polls. After his party KJP merged with the BJP in January 2014 in the run-up to the parliamentary polls, h successfully contested the parliamentary election from Shimoga.

There is no other leader in the BJP who has a mass appeal like him. He belongs to the upper caste group of Lingayats, a dominant community in the northern and central districts of the state.

In fact, it was this community that backed him even when he had broken away from the BJP to form the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP)

The KJP secured a little over 10 per cent of the votes in the 2013 Assembly elections. It did not make Yeddyurappa the chief minister or the kingmaker, but it certainly cut the BJP from 120 to 40.

He was appointed as BJP state chief in April 2016 despite reservations expressed by leaders of the RSS and a section of the party concerned over corruption cases pending against him. This was done keeping in mind that he would take over the BJP’s leadership ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

Trial under a cloud

The verdict acquitting the Lingayat strongman puts a question mark over the ruling of the earlier judge who, without going through trial, sent BSY into judicial custody. It also raises serious doubts over Justice Santosh Hegde's report as Karnataka Lokayukta as it was he who first pointed the needle of suspicion at Yeddyurappa, forcing him to quit.

Can Yeddyurappa deliver?

BS Yeddyurappa became the frontrunner to take up the post of the party's Karnataka unit after the Supreme Court, in 2015, refused to intervene and revoke a Karnataka High Court order putting on hold his prosecution in a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

According to political analysts, Yeddyurappa was selected because there is no alternative. There are many leaders in the party with a grounding in the RSS, but Yeddyurappa is different because he built the party.

An offer to join the Narendra Modi Cabinet in New Delhi was made to Yeddyurappa, but the Lingayat leader insisted on being given the reins of the party in Karnataka. Yeddyurappa was not interested in the offer of a ministry since it will mean losing his grip on state politics.

The BJP leader will turn 75 in February 2018, three months before Karnataka goes to the polls. But the party’s central leadership in all likelihood will relax the 75 years' rule for him. He will be projected as CM candidate and should he go on to lead the BJP to victory, the Lingayat strongman may be sworn in as CM as well. He may be asked to rule till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, push all the right governance buttons to reap a rich harvest of 23 to 25 seats for the BJP in Karnataka and then nominate a leader of his choice as his successor.

How will Yeddyurappa brace up for the challenge from the Ahinda (acronym for backward classes, minorities and the Dalits) platform that has been nurtured by chief minister Siddaramaiah as the BJP largely represents the interests of the Lingayat community and the JDS is largely based in southern Karnataka where the other major caste group of Vokkaligas is dominant?

There is also the question of whether Yeddyurappa will really be able to deliver with advancing age.

For now, the court having acquitted him of all charges comes as a shot in the arm for the Lingayat strongman as he was named the CM candidate for the 2018 Karnataka polls by BJP president Amit Shah.