Bengaluru (The Hindu): The decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party to appoint former Chief Minister and its national Vice President B.S. Yeddyurappa as head of the party's Karnataka State unit seems to have put the rank and file, by and large in to jubilation mode.

The announcement to this effect made at New Delhi on the occasion of "Ugadi" on Friday is being welcomed as a "new year" gift took the party, said Suresh C. Angadi, MP (Belagavi).

Welcoming the development, he told The Hindu that Mr.Yeddyurappa's leadership cut across caste and religious barriers, and was truly a "mass leader". It was he who had built the party from grass roots level and led the BJP to come to power on its own for the first time in the peninsular State of Karnataka over eight years ago.

Though he was elevated to the post of party's vice president, he was not much interested in national politics but keen on returning to his " karma bhoomi". It was Mr. Yeddyurappa as chief minister who laid the foundation stone for the Rs.400 crore Suvarna Vidhan Soudha in Belagavi, construcion on which construction was completed and the this second seat of power was inaugurated at the hands of President Pranab Mukherjee on October 11, 2012 during BJP government headed by the then Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar, paving way for conducting the annual winter session of the State legislature in this boundary city of North Karnataka.

Mr.Yeddyurappa's appointment as BJP's State president for the second time is bound to rejuvenate party's cadre and workers and boost electoral prospects in the elections to come. His appointment has come at most appropriate time as the rolling Congress was deprived of a strong leadership as lent by former chief ministers like Veerendra Patil and S.M. Krishna. The present chief minister, Siddaramaiah is not committed for the development and welfare of the people of entire State but preoccupied with some populist programmes, besides "self-development" and "self-welfare" programmes, said Mr.Angadi.