As BJP unease with Yediyurappa, Vijayendra grows, CT Ravi says, ‘Tickets not decided in anyone’s kitchen’

“Just remember one thing. The decision on candidates will not be taken in anyone’s kitchen. Nobody will get a ticket because they are somebody’s son. The decision on the ticket will also not be taken in the home of the aspirant. On the question of Vijayendra, the decision will be taken by the Parliamentary Board. It would not be decided in any kitchen. The party will decide on the basis of the winnability of the candidate after analysing surveys. Those surveys will not be conducted in the kitchens of leaders,” he said.

Ravi’s remarks can be seen as an indication of the discomfort within the state BJP unit about Yediyurappa’s attempts to dominate the party through his ambitious younger son even after being eased out of electoral politics.

Vijayendra’s role has also been questioned by Arun Sommanna, the son of state housing minister V Somanna.

“In our party, there is a big leader who has sacrificed his own seat for his son. The son is going around Karnataka claiming to be the next big leader of the state. I called him the other day and he began abusing me. I told him that I could even speak in an abusive way. I am saying this because I was not born a politician and will not die a politician,” Arun said at a public event recently. Videos of the remarks went viral on Tuesday.

Arun is also eyeing a BJP ticket in the coming polls. Sommanna is currently in Delhi to convince party leaders to grant tickets to him and Arun. It has also been reported that Somanna and Arun have offers from the Congress. The housing minister has, however, denied the allegations and clarified that he would not quit the BJP. The Somanna camp is also reportedly aggrieved with Vijayendra’s efforts to emerge as the foremost Lingayat leader in Karnataka.

Yediyurappa, who in 2008 brought Somanna to the BJP from the Congress, has denied the possibility of the housing minister returning to the Congress.

Responding to the resistance over his role in the party, Vijayendra asserted that his father would have a say in party matters as a senior leader. “C T Ravi is a senior and knows that B S Yediyurappa is more senior to him and helped build the party in Karnataka. Everybody knows where the decisions will be made. I am not losing sleep over the elections and I am working for the party. The party has given me work and I will abide by any decision of the party. The seniors of the party will decide,” he said.

In July last year, Yediyurappa, who had a 40-year career as a BJP legislator, announced that he would not contest the 2023 elections from the family borough of Shikaripura in the future, leaving the seat for Vijayendra.

The BJP recently appointed Vijayendra to its 25-member election campaign committee for the upcoming state Assembly polls. Yediyurappa is a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board, the party’s highest decision-making body headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.