A photograph of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa dressed in imitation of Tipu Sultan’s style has generated much debate on Facebook and is also being circulated on WhatsApp.
There conflicting accounts of when this photo was taken, but both accounts agree that it was during Yeddyurappa's stint in the Karnataka Janata Paksha. The photo shows the former chief minister dressed in imitation of Tipu, wearing a green ornate turban and with a sword in hand.
Some say that the photo was taken during an event for minorites organized by the KJP in Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, but according to another version, the photograph was taken on December 14, 2012 when Yeddyurappa visited Tipu’s Samadhi in Mysuru district.
He had just become head of the Karnataka Janata Paksha on December 9, after having split from the BJP, a party which he built in the state. While his website notes the dates of his quitting from the BJP and his return, his activities during that year are do not appear to be on the website.
According to a news report accessed through WebDuniya, Yeddyurappa had been invited to an interaction with reporters organized by the Mysuru District Working Journalists’ Union. Before attending the programme, he had visited the Nimishamba Temple and also paid a visit to Tipu’s Samadhi in Srirangapatna, where he paid his respects to the Tiger of Mysore by offering a shawl of flowers.
Then, as the head of the KJP, Yeddyurappa had exuded confidence, if not bravado, by saying that the new party would contest all the 224 Assembly seats and win.
“I will contest the elections alone and win. Just as we know for certain that the sun and moon exist, it is certain that I will be the next chief minister of the state... Tell me what your demands are. I will give an undertaking written in blood, that I will fulfill them” Yeddyurappa had said.
During the next assembly election, held in May 2013, he won 10 percent of the vote with six seats, costing the BJP a second consecutive chance at forming the government in Karnataka.
Unwilling to see a repeat of the Assembly elections during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP brought him and B Sriramulu back. Now, Yeddyurappa finds himself in a slightly different version of the same situation.
He is with the BJP, but nowhere near Karnataka’s politics. After over a year of waiting, Yeddyurappa now seems impatient to be back where he thinks he belongs.