Even as the BJP leadership sought to project an image of unity among its leaders while sounding the poll bugle at its State executive meet which began in Mysuru on Saturday, squabbling party leaders B.S. Yeddyurappa and K.S. Eshwarappa cold-shouldered each other.
The two-day State executive meet comes close on the heels of a public spat between the warring factions of the two leaders over the convening of Sangolli Rayanna Brigade meetings by Mr. Eshwarappa to mobilise backward classes and Dalits.
Though Mr. Eshwarappa, who had was reportedly planning to skip the meet initially, changed his mind and eventually arrived at the venue, Mr. Yeddyurappa refused to acknowledge his presence.
Yet, the party’s State general secretary, Arvind Limbavalli, while fielding queries from reporters later in the evening, said “small problems” between the two leaders had been resolved with the intervention of the central leadership. He denied that there were any doubts among party workers over “unity” among the two leaders.
Mr. Eshwarappa, however, refused to entertain queries from the reporters when he arrived at the venue before the meet began.
Earlier, addressing the inaugural session of the meet, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar emphasised the need for the party to remain united in its march towards the goal of winning 150 seats in the next Assembly elections and installing a B.S. Yeddyurappa-led government in the State.
Unity does not merely come from leaders sitting together on the dais, he said, before adding that the concept of real unity means recognising the range of the skill sets possessed by different party workers and utilising them for the benefit of the organisation.
BJP’s national general secretary in charge of Karnataka, P. Muralidhar Rao said the countdown for the end of the “corrupt” Siddaramaiah government in the State had begun. He claimed that a “few leaders of the Congress will go to jail before the next elections, and a few more after the BJP comes to power in the State”.
Mr. Yeddyurappa said he will tour the entire State for 45 days beginning May 15 or 16 to galvanise the party for the coming elections.
