Former Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sogadu Shivanna, who was an aspirant for the BJP ticket from Tumakuru city Assembly constituency, said that he and his supporters have decided to remain neutral in the elections.
Addressing a press conference at a private hotel in Tumakuru on Wednesday, Mr. Shivanna said that he and his supporters have decided to do so in the interest of the party which has made him MLA and Minister. He alleged the original BJP workers and leaders who had worked for the party for the past several decades have been sidelined which has hurt him and other members of the party. He alleged that there is no coordination among the BJP leaders at the State level.
He said that he had told the party president B.S. Yeddyurappa that former MP G.S. Basavaraj, who had defected from the Congress to the BJP, will ‘destroy’ the party in Tumakuru. But Mr. Yeddyurappa have given the ticket to G.S. Basavaraj’s son Jyothiganesh who was a Karnataka Janata Paksha KJP candidate in the last Assembly elections.
Mr. Shivanna alleged that the main reason for Mr. Yeddyurappa denying him the ticket is that he did not join the KJP when it was formed by Mr. Yeddyurappa.
BJP leaders M.B. Nandish, K.P. Mahesh, and Banashankari Babu were among those present.
