With the Karnataka elections just a few days away, it remains to be seen if former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa becomes a game changer. Credited with leading the first BJP government in South India, all eyes will now be on his new party the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP)
But it is not just his caste. Mr Yeddyurappa was always seen as a BJP loyalist. He was the fiery leader of the Opposition in Karnataka before coming to national prominence when he shared power with the Janata Dal (Secular) in an ill-fated coalition in 2007. JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, who was the first chief minister of that coalition, refused to step down for Mr Yeddyurappa and withdrew support. Mr Yeddyurappa lasted chief minister all of one week. But he came back strongly in the elections that followed that disastrous tie-up.
It was the BJP's big uh-oh moment when Mr Yeddyurappa was forced to resign as the Chief Minister in July 2011 after he was indicted in the illegal mining report of the then Lokayukta, Santosh Hegde. The charges said that as Chief Minister, Mr Yeddyurappa illegally denotified the prime land of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) which was later sold to a company owned by his sons.
After leaving the BJP, in December 2012 he launched his new party, the KJP. This party might not win many seats in the 224-member Assembly, but it is expected to divide the votes of Mr Yeddyurappa's powerful Lingayat community, considered a BJP stronghold. Enough to cost the BJP some vital seats, to the advantage of the Congress.