Bangalore:  BS Yeddyurappa may have lost the chair, but he has had his way. His man, Sadananda Gowda, will be Karnataka’s new Chief Minister.

It was a battle not won easily. The BJP’s 121 MLAs voted for Mr Gowda, who is a Lok Sabha MP, through secret ballot at a legislature party meeting held at Bangalore’s Capitol Hotel on Wednesday afternoon. Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh supervised the voting, once it was clear that no consensus on one name was possible. 

The two forerunners for the post, Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar, belong to rival camps. Mr Gowda is Mr Yeddyurappa’s man and Jagadish Shettar belongs to the Ananth Kumar camp. Of the 118 MLAs who finally voted, sources say about 68 picked Mr Gowda.

Earlier, MLAs were seen arriving in buses, cheering loudly for Mr Yeddyurappa – he claimed he had the support of over 70. Another lot showed up brandishing the Victory sign – they were part of a camp of about 50 MLAs led by Ananth Kumar. The meeting was delayed as each leader sought to convince the central leaders that his man be the next CM. So divided is the BJP at the moment that there were differences even in the way the two camps wanted the voting done – the Yeddyurappa camp wanted open voting while the Ananth Kumar camp favoured the secret ballot. 

 Mr Yeddyurappa had quit as Karnataka Chief Minister reluctantly on Sunday, days after the Santosh Hegde report on illegal mining severely indicted him and his family. His resignation was accompanied by the usual political drama – clinging to the chair till he could, then picking a propitious time to resign and finally, a massive show of strength as he walked to the Raj Bhawan flanked by his 70 MLAs.

In all that, Mr Yeddyurappa also made clear that while he was acceding to party wishes that he quit, only a person of his choice should be his successor. He has also insisted that he should have a say in picking 50% of the new Cabinet, something that is more than likely now. Mr Gowda is seen as a soft, pleasant politician, one who has never been a minister and so is yet to demonstrate key administrative skills. He is likely to be seen as a CM in the shadow of a Super-Chief Minister, BS Yeddyurappa.  
 
The rival camp had pushed Jagadish Shettar’s name after Mr Yeddyurappa is believed to have shot down that of BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar for Chief Minister. But, Mr Yeddyurappa prevailed.
 
Caste equations, which matter much, too were at the heart of this fight for the top position. Mr Yeddyurappa belongs to the powerful and dominant Lingayat community which has a huge 18% vote in Karnataka. The Ananth Kumar camp wanted Jagadish Shettar, also a Lingayat, to be CM to neutralise Mr Yeddyurappa’s indubitable influence. On the other side, the Yeddyurappa camp was pushing for Sadananda Gowda, who is a Vokkaliga, another dominant community. Gowda in the saddle means that Mr Yeddyurappa remains the Lingayat strongman.

About Sadananda Gowda?
 
Sadananda Gowda, 58, is an MP from Udupi Chikmagalur. He has been BJP state president and a non-controversial one – a considerable feat in a unit that has several power centres. Gowda has also been an MLA and deputy leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly. The Vokkaliga leader has a law degree and was a sportsman in college.
 
The affable Gowda lists chatting with family and friends among his interests. He has one son – and has so far had no allegations against him of corruption or nepotism. Issues that led to Mr Yeddyurappa’s ouster.