| B. S. Yeddyurappa | |
|---|---|
| B.S. Yeddyurappa | |
| In office May 30, 2008 – 31 July 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | President's rule |
| Succeeded by | D.V.Sadananda Gowda |
| Constituency | Shikaripur |
| 24th Chief Minister of Karnataka | |
| In office November 12, 2007 – November 19, 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | H. D. Kumaraswamy |
| Succeeded by | President's rule |
| Constituency | Shikaripur |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 February 1943 Bookanakere, Karnataka, |
| Political party | BJP |
| Spouse(s) | Late Mythradevi |
| Children | 2 sons: (B. Y. Raghavendra Vijayendra) 3 daughters: (Arunadevi Padmavati Umadevi) |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Website | http://yeddyurappa.in |
| As of May 28, 2008 Source: [1] |
|
Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa (Kannada: ಬೂಕನಕೆರೆ ಸಿದ್ಧಲಿಂಗಪ್ಪ ಯಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪ), (born 27 February 1943[1]) is an Indian politician and was the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka, sworn in on 30 May 2008. He belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and represents Shikaripura in the Karnataka legislative assembly. He became the Chief Minister of Karnataka after the BJP's success in the 2008 Karnataka Assembly election. He was also briefly the Chief Minister in November 2007 before the coalition government with Janata Dal (Secular) collapsed. He is the first person from the BJP to become the Chief Minister of a South Indian state.[2]
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Yeddyurappa was born on 27 February 1943 in the village of Bookanakere in Mandya district in the state of Karnataka; at that time, his name was spelled "Yeddiyurappa".[3][4] His father Siddalingappa and mother Puttathayamma belonged to the Lingayat community. He was named after the presiding deity of a Shaivite temple built by Siddalingeshwara at Yediyur in Tumkur district of Karnataka.[5] His mother died when he was four.[2] He completed his education with a degree in Bachelor of Arts.
In 1965, he was appointed first-division clerk in the social welfare department but instead shifted to Shikaripur where he joined as a clerk at Veerabhadra Shastri's Shankar rice mill. In 1967, Yeddyurappa married Mythradevi, the daughter of the rice mill owner.[6] He later set up a hardware shop in Shimoga. Yeddyurappa has two sons, Raghavendra and Vijayendra and three daughters, Arunadevi, Padmavati and Umadevi.[7] In 2004, his wife died after falling into and drowning in a nearby well.[8] In 2007, he changed the spelling of his name to its current spelling following the advice of his astrologer.[9]
Yeddyurappa's stint in public life began when he was appointed secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Shikaripur unit in 1970. In 1972, he was elected President of the Taluk unit of the Jan Sangh.[7] In 1975, he was elected President of the Town Municipality of Shikaripur. He was imprisoned during the Emergency in India between 1975 and 1977 and lodged in the Bellary and Shimoga jails. In 1980, he was appointed President of the Shikaripur taluk unit of the BJP and he later went on to become the president of BJP's Shimoga district unit in 1985. In 1988, he became the President of the BJP unit of the state of Karnataka. He was first elected to the lower house of Karnataka Legislature in 1983 and has since represented the Shikaripur constituency six times. He has been a member of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth and Thirteenth Legislative Assemblies (lower house) of Karnataka. In the Tenth Assembly, he was chosen Leader of Opposition. In 1999, he lost the elections but was nominated by the BJP to become a member of the legislative council (upper house) of Karnataka.[1]
He rose to prominence when he helped Janata Dal (Secular) party's H. D. Kumaraswamy to bring down the coalition government of Dharam Singh. Kumaraswamy formed the government with the help of the BJP in Karnataka headed by Yeddyurappa. A deal was struck between the JD(S) and BJP, which specified that H. D. Kumaraswamy would be the Chief Minister for the first 20 months, after which Yeddyurappa would become the Chief Minister for the remaining 20 months of the current tenure of the Legislature. Yeddyurappa was nominated as the Deputy Chief Minister as well as the finance minister in Kumaraswamy's Government.
However in October 2007, when Yeddyurappa's turn of becoming the Chief Minister was supposed to start, Kumaraswamy refused to resign from the post of the Chief Minister. This forced Yeddyurappa and all of the ministers from his party to resign and on 5 October, he met the governor and formally withdrew the BJP's support from the government. Karnataka was put under President's rule which was revoked on 7 November. During the period of the President's rule, the JD(S) and the BJP decided to bury their differences and this paved the way for Yeddyurappa to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 25th Chief Minister of Karnataka on 12 November 2007. However, JD(S) refused to support his government over disagreement on sharing of ministries which made him resign from his post on 19 November 2007.
In Karnataka's 2008 Assembly elections, Yeddyurappa contested from Shikaripura against the Samajwadi Party's S. Bangarappa, another ex-Chief Minister. The Indian National Congress and JD(S) did not field a candidate in the constituency and backed Bangarappa, but despite this, Yeddyurappa won the seat by a margin over 45,000 votes. He took the oath of office as Chief Minister on 30 May 2008.[10]
In December 2008, Yeddyurappa was conferred an Honorary Doctorate by Saginaw Valley State University, USA.[11][12][13]
In November 2010, Yeddyurappa was alleged to have used his position as Chief Minister to favour his sons in the allotment of prime land in Bangalore.[14] In response, on 5 February 2011, Yeddyurappa publicly declared his assets, and then challenged the opposition and the Indian National Congress to find any "black money".[15] However, the Karnataka Lokayukta, established by Karnataka government to investigate allegation of high level government officials [16] investigated this case and on 27 July 2011, submitted its report [17] to the State Government and the Supreme Court on the investigation of Yeddyurappa stating that there is enough evidence to charge him for illegally profiteering from land deals in Bangalore and Shimoga,[18] and also in connection with the illegal iron ore export scam in Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga districts of Karnataka.[19] The report recommended prosecuting Yeddyurappa. On 28 July 2011, he announced that he had sent his resignation letter, then showed some reluctance to resign,[20] after which he disclosed that that resignation would be effective only from the 31st of July.[21] Finally he yielded to pressure from the central leaders and he sent his resignation letter to BJP President Nitin Gadkari on the 31st July, and expressed his 'full support' to the party. [22].
There has been controversy regarding allegations of him using his position to favour his sons in the allotment of land in Bangalore. One acre of land at Rachenahalli was purchased by his family for Rs 40 lakh (approx US$ 95,000) and was re-sold to a mining company for Rs. 20 crore ($ 4.8 million), resulting a significant profit. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29]
To refute the charges, Yeddyurappa declared his assets estimated Rs. 11 crore [30] – including 2.5 kg of gold and 76 kg of silver – to show that neither he nor his family members were involved in any financial irregularities. His assets was declared to be Rs. 1.82 crore in 2008, indicating a 500 % increase in two years. [30][31]
Political drama continued in the state after he decided to swear in at Dharmasthala over the graft issue when his rival, H. D. Kumaraswamy claimed that the Chief Minister wanted to buy his silence. Blame game continued as the CM openly challenged Kumaraswamy to prove the truth in front of Lord Manjunatha Swamy at Dharmasthala. Though Kumaraswamy accepted the challenge, the whole Dharmasthala show down turned out to be a flop show. [32][33][34][35] Three days before the challenge Yeddyurappa backed out of the challenge following the advice of his party national president, Nitin Gadkari, who was concerned mixing temple with politics. [36]However Kumaraswamy, fulfilled & completed the challenge.
In January 2011, two lawyers of the Karnataka High Court Advocates Sirajin Basha and K N Balraj asked for permission to prosecute CM Yeddyurappa and governor H.R. Bhardwaj approved the request. [37]
The Lokayukta report submitted on 27 July 2011 states that there is sufficient evidence to indict Yeddyurappa and recommended his prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act over this land deal. It indicated that the land that had been sold to South West Mining Ltd for Rs 20 crore, as quid pro quo. The market value determined by the government for the land Yeddyurappa's family purchased was Rs 1.4 crore when it was resold. In order to stimulate employment through private companies, state government distributed public land to private entities for mining. The allegations ranged from the land being distributed to a select few individuals with proper influence, mining and illegal transportation (without the required permit) of significantly more ore than what the private corporations disclosed to the government. The report suggested that the government was complacent about the illegal mining of 2.8 crores metric tons of iron ore from government lands without paying royalties to the government (at Rs 16.25 per ton). According to Lokayukta finding, South West Mining Company also had donated Rs 10 crore to the Prerana Education Society, a trust company managed by Yeddyurappa's family members, although Yeddyurappa denied that he was a part of the trust. [38]
In addition, Lokayukta report stated that there is sufficient evidence to indict Yeddyurappa of granting illegal mining licenses to mining companies and benefiting through them. He and his family members are also alleged to have received bribe from mining companies. The Lokayukta papers reported that a mining firm donated Rs. 10 crore to a trust owned by the CM. [39]
As of July 2011, Yeddyurappa has faced 38 attempts to oust him and thrice faced a vote of no confidence. The Lokayuta Report caused demands from within his party for his resignation, which he initially agreed to and then backed out of.[20][40]
Following the submission of the Lokayukta report, he resigned on 31 July 2011. [41]
After accepting the Lokayukta report, Governor Bhardwaj again approved the prosecution of Yeddyurappa [42] and the Karnataka High Court has allowed police to question him. [43][44]
Yeddyurappa was arrested on Saturday on charges of illegally garnering prize real estate for himself and his family.[45] He surrendered before the Lokayukta court in Bangalore on 15 Oct 2011 evening, hours after he was denied bail and issued an arrest warrant in two cases of corruption for illegally denotifying land in and around Bangalore.[46] Yeddyurappa is the first former CM to be sent to jail in Karnataka.[47] He was granted bail on 8 Novemberr 2011 after spending 23 days in jail.[48]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by M.P. Prakash |
Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka 09 January 2006 – October 2007 |
Succeeded by President Rule (9 October 2007 – 11 November 2007) |
| Preceded by H. D. Kumaraswamy |
Chief Minister of Karnataka 12 November 2007 – 19 November 2007 |
Succeeded by President Rule (19 November 2007 – 30 May 2008) |
| Preceded by President Rule (19 November 2007 – 30 May 2008) |
Chief Minister of Karnataka 30 May 2008 – 31st July 2011 |
Succeeded by D.V.Sadananda Gowda |
|
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