Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa is credited with winning BJP its first ever government in south India. (File photo)

Highlights BJP names BS Yeddyurappa the Karnataka party president

He quit BJP after being forced to resign as CM over corruption charges

Mr Yeddyurappa returned to BJP just before the 2014 national elections

The return of BS Yeddyurappa is complete. The former Chief Minister and party strongman has been named chief of the Karnataka BJP in a reshuffle of top party posts in many states.Less than four years ago, Mr Yeddyurappa had parted bitterly with his party of four decades after he had to step down as chief minister amid allegations of massive corruption. He had returned to the BJP in early 2014, along with his many supporters, just before the national elections.Elected to the Lok Sabha, he was also picked that year to be vice-president in party chief Amit Shah's new team.The BJP today also appointed Vijay Sampla its Punjab unit chief in preparation for next year's state election, Dr K Laxman the Telangana BJP chief and Tapir Gao to head the Arunchal Pradesh unit.In Uttar Pradesh, where elections are due early next year, the BJP has picked Keshav Prasad Maurya, its lawmaker from Phoolpur, to head the state unit. Mr Maurya is an Other Backward Castes or OBC leader and his selection is in consonance with the BJP's strategic wooing of the around 60 per cent backward and Dalit vote in the key state.But it is BS Yeddyurappa's comeback that has created the most buzz. This is the fourth time that he will be Karnataka's BJP chief.The BJP, had struggled after the 2012 exit of its tallest leader in Karnataka, who had, in a deep sulk, floated the Karnataka Janata Party, which played spoiler for the BJP in Assembly elections the next year.The Congress wrested Karnataka in 2013 from the BJP, which came in a poor third. Mr Yeddyurappa's new party was a non-starter.BS Yeddyurappa, who was the BJP's first and as yet only chief minister in South India, became the frontrunner for a return as party chief in Karnataka after the Supreme Court refused last year to intervene and revoke a Karnataka High Court order putting on hold his prosecution in a corruption case.The 73-year-old leader draws his core support from his powerful Lingayat community and is credited with a strong contribution to building the BJP in the state.