BS Yediyurappa, a former chief minister who is leading the BJP’s election campaign in Karnataka, suggested today that his son might run against Siddaramaiah, a longtime Congress leader.

Former chief minister Siddaramaiah is running for the Varuna seat in Mysuru, which is currently held by his son Yathindra.

According to Mr. Yediyurappa, who is currently in firefighting mode amid protests over reservation issues with the elections just over a month away, high-level discussions are underway to determine whether BY Vijayendra will be fielded from Varuna.

A day after the Election Commission announced that the state elections will take place on May 10, he made his comments during an urgent press conference in Bengaluru.

“Lingayat and other community reservations are reasonable. The Muslims have also not been treated unfairly. They would now be granted reservations in the economically disadvantaged areas,” the BJP leader claimed.

According to him, Congress won’t take up more than 70 seats in the 224-seat parliament.

Earlier this week, Mr. Yediyurappa was the target of demonstrations after the Basavaraj Bommai administration suggested to the centre a new reservation division. At his home in Shivamogga, hundreds of protesters from the Banjara and other underdeveloped communities pelted stones.

The state cabinet also increased reservations for the Schedule Caste community in education and jobs from 15% to 17% last week and instituted internal quotas.

According to the state’s recommendation, 6% is set aside for SC (left), 5.5% for SC (right), 4.5% for communities such as Banjaras and Bhovis, and 1% for others. Followers of Babu Jagjivan Ram are classified as ‘right’, while those of BR Ambedkar are classified as ‘left’.

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