B. S. Yediyurappa

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), also known as B.S. Yediyurappa or BSY, is an Indian politician who served four terms as the chief minister of Karnataka from 2007 to 2022 as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, though his tenure was not continuous.

In 2008, Yediyurappa resumed office as the Chief Minister of Karnataka after leading the BJP to victory in the legislative assembly elections, marking the first time the party formed a state government in South India. In 2011, he resigned after being indicted in a corruption case. The case was progressively dismissed between 2012 and 2016 following High Court rulings. In 2012, alleging ill-treatment by the BJP high command, Yediyurappa left the party to establish his own political party, the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP).

In 2014, he merged the KJP with the BJP and was subsequently elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from the Shimoga constituency. He later resigned from the Lok Sabha following the Karnataka Legislative Assembly state election held in 2018, after which he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka for the third time. However, he failed to secure a majority in the Assembly and resigned two days later. H. D. Kumaraswamy subsequently took the oath as Chief Minister. In July 2019, the Kumaraswamy government lost its majority following the resignation of 17 MLAs. Yediyurappa was soon elected as the chief minister and consolidated his majority in the by-elections later that year.

Yediyurappa resigned from office on 26 July 2021, on the second anniversary of his fourth term. He was succeeded by Basavaraj Bommai on 28 July 2021.