Even before the national anthem commenced to mark the end of the 47-minute ministerial expansion at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday, heartburn among the upset aspirants came to light across different districts.
Supporters of Thippa Reddy and Gulihatti Shekar took to the streets in their Assembly constituencies in Chitradurga district to protest against their leaders missing out on the opportunity. Some of them burnt tyres and halted traffic.
Mr. Reddy said he was very pained over not getting a chance. Stating that he was in touch with several other seniors who missed out too, he rushed to Bengaluru to hold talks with some of them.
Mr. Shekar went to the extent of saying that he felt he had committed a mistake by joining the BJP.
He said he had trusted Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to safeguard his political interests as he did not know any of the central leaders, but was not confident of getting the ministerial opportunity in the further expansion process.
Several party leaders are concerned about six-time MLA for Sullia S. Angara not becoming Minister. Though his supporters were angry, the soft spoken Mr. Angara was sober in his comments. He said he and his supporters were pained over the party not considering him. “It is my duty to remain committed to ideology. It is the responsibility of the organisation to identify persons with commitment to principles. But what can I do if there is no value to principles?” Mr. Angara asked.
Former Minister and MLA for Madikeri Appachhu Ranjan said the party had “insulted the Kodava community”, which had always stood by it, by ignoring him for the ministerial post. Describing himself as a person who is committed to the party organisation rather than being a committed follower of any leader, he said those with commitment to the party organisation had been ignored.
Similarly, Halady Srinivas Shetty, five-time MLA for Kundapur, who failed to get ministerial berth, too was upset. He said he had neither done caste politics nor lobbied for a post.
Meeting held
Some of the disappointed ministerial aspirants did not attend the swearing-in ceremony. Some of them even held a meeting in Bengaluru soon after the expansion.
The party leaders are now keen on ensuring that the disappointment does not snowball into dissidence.
