Soon after the lotus bloomed for the first time in South India and he became the Chief Minister of Karnataka, BJP’s B S Yeddyurappa was asked about his next political dream. To make L K Advani the Prime Minister of India, was his quick reply. Over the last year, Yeddyurappa has been focused on achieving that aim — formulating populist schemes, tirelessly visiting districts, and personally identifying Lok Sabha candidates — often at the cost of day-to-day administration.

On Saturday when the dust settled on the parliamentary election and the BJP fared phenomenally well in Karnataka, Yeddyurappa’s dream of making Advani PM remained unfulfilled. The CM was confronted with the question as to whether he had been given a rose without scent. With his years of experience in politics, Yeddyurappa sidestepped the question and turned focus on the Karnataka mandate.

If there is anyone who has come out of the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka with renewed power and strength on the back of the BJP’s 19 seats, it is Yeddyurappa. Having helped the party improve its tally of 18 seats from 2004, Yeddyurappa managed to slip into a higher league in the BJP.

The biggest victory for Yeddyurappa is in his home district of Shimoga where his son B Y Raghavendra ousted party-hopping veteran and former Karnataka chief minister S Bangarappa from the Congress by 51,118 votes in one of the most closely watched election battles in the state. The CM had focused much of his energies in the constituency, spending nearly a fortnight in the district ahead of the polls to garner support for his son.

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