Alongside B S Yediyurappa, K S Eshwarappa is credited with being one of the leaders who helped build the BJP in Karnataka that is the only southern state to date where the party has come to power. With Yediyurappa’s power in the state BJP undimmed and Eshwarappa out in the cold, the rivalry seems set for another tumultuous chapter. Eshwarappa is a former state BJP president, with his high point coming in 2012 when he became the state’s Deputy Chief Minister in the Jagadish Shettar-led government. But now out of favour with the party leadership — he stepped down from the state government in 2022 under the shadow of corruption allegations — and no Lok Sabha ticket for his son, Eshwarappa seems to have finally had enough and has raised the banner of revolt. This is unlike last year when he quietly accepted the party’s decision to not field him in the Assembly polls as the party because the state leadership, including Yediyurappa, allegedly promised to give his son K E Kantesh a Lok Sabha ticket. Eshwarappa expected that Kanthesh would receive the ticket from Haveri but instead, the party chose to field former CM Basavaraj Bommai from the constituency. To get back at Yediyurappa, Eshwarappa is thinking about contesting as a rebel candidate against the former CM’s son and incumbent Shivamogga MP B Y Raghavendra. Minutes after the BJP released its second list of candidates on Wednesday, including 20 names from Karnataka, Eshwarappa was the first to express his displeasure and hit out at Yedyiurappa and state BJP president B Y Vijayendra, another of the CM’s sons, saying that his followers were saying the family was controlling the party in the state. “A year ago, B S Yediyurappa promised tickets to my son Kanthesh and also said he would campaign for him. Basavaraj Bommai also expressed that he would not demand a ticket due to health reasons. My son and I met several leaders, including Yedyiurappa, who had been told to travel across the constituency. They have betrayed me,” he said. The senior BJP leader added, “I am getting a lot of pressure to contest against B Y Raghavendra after the announcement of the list. The BJP party is like a mother but now my followers are saying that she is being strangled and we will need to protect her.” Eshwarappa alleged that the party also did injustice to several senior leaders such as Pratap Simha, Nalin Kumar Kateel, C T Ravi, and D V Sadananda Gowda. “I have seen media reports that B S Yediyurappa was adamant about getting tickets for Shobha Karandlaje, and Basavaraj Bommai. Why did he not have the same interest in my son's case? Radha Mohan Das Agarwal (BJP national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge) called me for a meeting but they have announced (tickets) already. What is the use of the meeting?” Emphasising that he was still a fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, he added, “My followers are asking me to contest and win to support Modi. A meeting will be held on March 15 with the community heads and followers. I will announce my decision later.” A source in BJP said, “Though the assurance was to give a ticket for the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat, even Eshwarappa did not believe it as Yedyiurappa's son was representing it. Almost a year ago, he eventually decided that his son would contest from the Haveri Lok Sabha constituency and started working with the party workers. This has definitely come as a shock to Eshwarappa.” Old RSS hand The cold war between Yedyiurappa and Eshwarappa, both of whom are from Shivamogga district, has gone on for several decades. The former Deputy CM hails from the Kuruba community and is a staunch advocate for Hindutva in the party. The 75-year-old Eshwarappa is an old RSS hand and has been a five-term MLA from Shivamogga. He served several terms as a minister, holding many portfolios. In 2022, he quit as the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister after a controversy triggered by the death of a contractor. In his suicide note, the contractor accused him of demanding a 40% commission for clearing payments. With this becoming a sticking point for the BJP government led by Bommai — the Congress dubbed it a “40% government” — the BJP dropped Eshwarappa from the Assembly polls.
