Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has asked general secretary in charge of affairs in Karnataka, P. Muralidhar Rao, to travel to Bengaluru to defuse the infighting in the State unit that boiled over into a public confrontation between factions favouring and opposing State unit chief B.S. Yeddyurappa.
In an open meeting called “Save BJP,” former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka K.S. Eshwarappa had gathered a crowd of those opposing Mr. Yeddyurappa asking that the latter be replaced. Mr. Yeddyurappa, on his part, not only criticised the event but also named the party’s organisational general secretary B.L. Santhosh as “encouraging” the rebellion in statements given to local television channels. Mr. Santhosh is considered a very strong organisational man, lent to the State unit by the RSS. He is seen by Mr. Yeddyurappa’s faction as the real heft behind Mr. Eshwarappa’s loud protests.
‘Matter of concern’
The party has to face crucial Assembly polls in the State in 2018. It recently lost the by-polls to two Assembly seats. “This is a matter of serious concern, we will be sorting this out,” said a senior leader in Delhi when asked.
In Delhi, however, Mr Yeddyurappa on Saturday found no one, as party chief Amit Shah and the national general secretary, organisation, Ram Lal were both in Jammu at the start of Mr Shah’s 95-day tour for organisational expansion of the party. “Amitbhai spoke to Yeddyurappaji over the phone last evening and said that he would not be in Delhi till Monday, but would be despatching Mr. Muralidhar Rao,” said a senior source in the State unit. Mr. Ram Lal too, sources said, conveyed much the same to Mr Yeddyurappa.
The State unit chief, in Delhi for the release of translated volumes of 12th Century Bhakti saint Basaveshwara’s “Vachanas” or teachings into 23 languages, brought forward his flight and left the Capital by afternoon, possibly to catch Mr. Rao before he began his assessment of the situation.
Consultations begin
After arriving in Bengaluru on Saturday night, Mr. Rao began the consultation process by holding a meeting with prominent office-bearers of the party organisation at the BJP’s State headquarters. Prominent among those who attended the meeting were former Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok, B. Sriramulu and several MLAs from Bengaluru city.
It is learnt that Mr. Rao is scheduled to hold much wider consultations on Sunday by inviting presidents of different frontal organisations and prominent leaders from districts.
(With inputs from Karnataka)
