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Journalism of Courage
Amid intensifying battle for tickets within the ruling BJP for the upcoming Assembly polls in Karnataka, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa was forced to call off the Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra at Mudigere in the Chikkamagaluru district Thursday due to party workers’ protest against the sitting MLA MP Kumaraswamy.
A day earlier, BJP MP GM Siddeshwara spoke of the uncertainty of allotment of tickets for party leaders, including even CM Basavaraj Bommai.
Yediyurappa, who is also a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board, had gone to Mudigere for a road show as part of the Yatra, one of the four ongoing election yatras in the state. His convoy was stopped by a group of BJP workers who protested against the candidature of Kumaraswamy, a three-time MLA from the SC-reserved constituency. They demanded that a new face be fielded in the constituency.
BJP national general secretary CT Ravi, former Union minister DV Sadananda Gowda and BJP MLC MK Pranesh, who were accompanying Yediyurappa, were also stopped by the protesters.
Another group of BJP workers however staged a demonstration in favour of a ticket for Kumaraswamy.
Meanwhile, interacting with reporters Wednesday, MP Siddeshwara, who represents the Davanagere constituency, said: “After elections are announced, the core committee will meet and decide. Nobody knows who will get a ticket. We do not know whether Basavaraj Bommai will get the ticket.”
Bommai has made it clear on previous occasions that he wants to contest from the Shiggaon constituency that had elected him in 2018. Siddheshwara, however, said, “This is a national party. National leaders will decide. They will say who will contest from where.”
Sensing the opportunity to put the BJP on the mat, Karnataka Congress shared Siddeshwara’s statement across social media platforms Thursday, asking “Whether the BJP high command had realised that people had anger against the state government”.
“Leave aside giving Basavaraj Bommai leadership (after the Assembly polls), it is apparently doubtful that he will get a ticket (to contest polls). Is there any link to the statement by MP Siddeshwara and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah not mentioning Bommai’s name (during campaigns),” the Congress said in a tweet.
“Has corruption and Bommai’s failure caused enough bitterness in the party leadership to not field him. Did the high command realise the anger people have against the government?” the Congress added.
Siddheshwara’s remarks came amidst speculations in political circles that Bommai is scouting for another constituency as he is unsure of retaining the Shiggaon seat. The reason behind the move is said to be the anger of the Panchamasali sub-sect of the Lingayat community, constituting a large chunk of Shiggaon, which has demanded reservation under the 2A OBC category.
Though this was not fulfilled, the Karnataka government had announced a stop-gap arrangement of hiking reservation quota for the entire Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities in December last year by carving out new quotas in the reservation matrix. Panchamasalis are, however, learnt to be still unhappy about the arrangement.
Yediyurappa recently said that not all BJP MLA will be fielded in the coming election and that “four to six” MLAs could miss out. There were also discussions within the BJP leadership about not fielding sitting candidates in 20 per cent of the state’s constituencies.
The BJP has not projected a chief ministerial candidate for the polls due in April-May, maintaining that it will fight it under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bommai, and Yediyurappa.
