BANGALORE: Mangalore MP D.V. Sadananda Gowda is likely to continue as BJP State unit president for another term though some leaders in the party have been lobbying for his removal.

Sources in the BJP told The Hindu that there was no proposal before them to replace the State unit president. As he was appointed midterm president seven months ago, he would get a full term after the elections for the post of the State president scheduled to be held later this month, the sources said.

A section of the party in the State is making out a case for Mr. Sadananda Gowda's ouster on the grounds that he had not been focusing on strengthening the party organisation. He has been accused of not touring the State and confining himself to Bangalore and Mangalore. According to sources in the party's State unit, some leaders are lobbying for the appointment of the former Union Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar or someone close to him to the post. The party's central leadership, according to the sources, is not ready to take any steps that would destabilise the coalition Government in the State. Their view is that having a State president who does not enjoy cordial relations with Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa would affect the survival of the Government, they said.

Mr. Ananth Kumar's followers are feeling "sidelined" as the faction led Mr. Yediyurappa has emerged stronger after he became the Deputy Chief Minister. His confidants are of the view that Mr. Sadananda Gowda has aligned with the Yediyurappa camp, the sources said.

According to Mr. Ananth Kumar's political aides, he has been entrusted with major responsibilities in the party at the national level after the death of Pramod Mahajan. But still they want him to return to State politics to strengthen the party here.

The BJP won 79 Assembly seats and 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2004 elections when he was the State president, they said.

However, no leader, except the Chikkodi MP Ramesh C. Jigajinagi, has publicly demanded the removal of Mr. Sadananda Gowda. Mr. Jigajinagi met the party President Rajnath Singh and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani in New Delhi on Wednesday and sought a change of guard in the State.

Apart from Mr. Ananth Kumar's name, the other name making the rounds for the post of the State president is that of the three-time MLA from Ankola in Uttara Kannada district Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri. He comes from the RSS ranks and had worked as a full-time worker in ABVP for nearly 10 years before he was drafted to the BJP.

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