Focus on B L Santhosh as Jagadish Shettar opens fire: ‘His blue-eyed boy got priority’

The ruling party has fielded Mahesh Tenginakayi from Hubli-Dharwad Central, whom Shettar called Santhosh’s “Manasa Putra (blue-eyed boy)”. Said the former CM, “Because of Santhosh’s commitment, he got the ticket.” In 2018, Tenginakayi had to withdraw his nomination from Kalghatgi constituency in Dharwad due to public opposition, said Shettar. Eventually, C M Nimbannavar won on a BJP ticket.

The former CM alleged that Santhosh had plans to not field other senior leaders such as Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri and S Suresh Kumar. But, fearing blowback over dropping several candidates, the central BJP leader was not able to execute it. Shettar claimed that in Mysuru former minister S A Ramdas was denied a ticket and T S Srivatsa who is close to Santhosh was nominated.

Responding to the allegations, Tenginakayi said, “Santhoshji is a Sangh pracharak and working without any desires or aspirations. He does not pick and choose. Any one person cannot take such decisions in the party. Decisions are made by the BJP Parliamentary Board.”

Shettar’s allegations have put Santhosh back in the spotlight like in the past few elections. Santhosh and former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa are known to have been involved in a feud when the former was the BJP general secretary (organisation) of the state unit. The differences between the two camps often came to the fore during the distribution of election tickets. According to party insiders, there has been speculation in the past about Santosh harbouring chief ministerial ambitions and cultivating his coterie of supporters in each district.

In the past few years, as Yediyurappa’s hold over the state unit loosened, Santhosh, who hails from Karnataka, asserted himself. In the last few elections, such as the Rajya Sabha polls in 2020, Santhosh gained an upper hand as he secured tickets for candidates selected by him, much to the chagrin of some state leaders. For the coming polls too, Santhosh has succeeded in ensuring tickets to several of his loyalists.

Though the list of candidates shows that Yediyurappa still continues to have his say in the affairs of the state unit, insiders say that the control of the state BJP office is now firmly in Santhosh’s hands. Shettar on Tuesday made this point, noting that BJP vice president Nirmal Kumar Surana whom Yediyurappa expelled in 2017 was reinstated two years later.

Santhosh has been active in the run-up to the May 10 elections, holding meetings with the cadre of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in several parts of the state. Amid speculation that Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah of the Congress could contest from Kolar, he shifted his focus to the constituency and is learnt to have held strategy meetings. In the end, the Congress fielded Siddaramaiah from Varuna in Mysuru district and nominated Kothur G Manjunath from Kolar.

Siddaramaiah told reporters in Mysuru that it was Santhosh’s ploy to field minister V Somanna against him even though the Govindrajnagar MLA was not keen on contesting from Varuna.