BJP high command dispatches Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to douse rebellion in party

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: The unabated exodus of leaders from the BJP over the denial of tickets for the coming Assembly polls has forced the high command to dispatch Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to Karnataka to take stock of the situation. The Delhi leaders who allotted tickets to 212 candidates without reportedly taking state leaders into consideration, now seem to be losing sleep with several sitting and ex-MLAs deserting BJP ranks.

In a damage-control exercise, Pradhan had been asked to go to Karnataka to prevent the exodus of leaders. The biggest beneficiaries of this exodus have been the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) as they were getting ‘ready-to-contest’ candidates. Despite leaders quitting the party, the audacity of the BJP national leaders hasn’t stopped.

The BJP National General Secretary and In-Charge of Karnataka Arun Singh’s statement that nothing would happen to the party if three or four leaders quit, has not gone down well among the rank and file. The high command became worried after former deputy chief minister and MLC Lakshman Savadi quit his MLC post and tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the BJP.

Savadi wields influence over Lingayat/Veerashaiva voters at least in Belagavi district which has 18 Assembly constituencies and the highest number after Bengaluru Rural and Urban’s 28 seats. The demise of Umesh Katti last year has caused a big vacuum in the BJP. Other BJP leaders like Shashikala Jolle, Anna Saheb Jolle, and Mahantesh Kavatagimath are popular just in their respective constituencies.

Former Rajya Sabha MP, Prabhakar Kore is busy managing the KLE Society’s chain of organizations, and has no time to focus on improving the BJP’s presence in the district. Former minister and Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi who belongs to the Nayaka (Valmiki) community has not shown much interest to build the BJP in Belagavi district.

Meanwhile, Minister S Angara who had threatened to quit the party, has taken a Uturn and announced his retirement from electoral politics. But defiant Mudigere MLA M.P.Kumarasamy quit the BJP and joined the JD(S).