All is not well with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, the only southern state under the Saffron rule, as resentment against Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai is growing amongst the MLAs, who want the Central leadership to replace him in preparation for the Assembly polls next year. According to knowledgeable sources, nearly 20 MLAs have threatened to withdraw support to Bommai, and instead shift towards Siddaramaiah and the Congress since they believe that the present CM shall be unable to help the BJP to retain power in Karnataka. About half a dozen MLAs were in the national capital and had to be assuaged by a senior leader from the State who was summoned to Delhi to make them see reason. The principal grouse of the legislators is that Bommai had no time for official work; he has been acting at the behest of Vijayendra Yeddyurappa, B.S.Yeddyurappa’s son who has also been lobbying with top leaders to make him the deputy CM. The internal power tussle within the BJP has been on ever since Yeddyurappa put in his papers and in order to make him feel relevant, the BJP’s High Command appointed his nominee, Bommai as the CM.
The decision did not go down well with many seniors and Jagadish Shettar, a former CM, who as the BJP candidate had defeated Bommai (then in JDS) from the Hubli Dharwad Central constituency in 1994 by a margin of 16,000 votes, declined to be a part of his Cabinet. Shettar, a six-time MLA who started his political journey from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad and was a close associate of the late Union Minister Anath Kumar, is emerging as the preferred choice of the majority of MLAs. Besides being the CM, he has been the leader of Opposition in the Assembly and also its Speaker during the course of his eventful career. He is a prominent Lingayat face and is held in high esteem by his community, which has been the backbone of the BJP’s rise in Karnataka. Murugesh Nirani, another Lingayat, and Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, a Brahmin are also being seen as possible successors along with Shettar if the BJP High Command decides to replace Bommai. The majority of BJP functionaries in the State are of the view that Bommai had been unable to provide strong leadership. In the Legislative Council elections, the BJP was expected to win 18 seats but landed up with only 11, the same number as Congress. In the Assembly by-election on the CM’s home turf, the BJP lost. In addition, there are several charges of personal nature against Bommai and a close relative of his is allegedly involved in a cryptocurrency scandal.
Had it not been for the Budget session which shall conclude on March 30th, the BJP Central leadership would have taken a call on his being changed. Reports are doing the rounds in Delhi’s political circles that four BJP CMs could be changed in view of the preparedness of the Assembly polls. Vijayendra Yeddyurappa’s pressure to make him the deputy CM is being seen as an attempt to prolong Bommai’s political innings as the CM since he is considered as a proxy of BSY. The problem as viewed from the prism of the BJP is that it would not be easy for anyone to face the challenge offered by Siddaramaiah, who is without a doubt the strongest leader in Karnataka. Therefore, to stop him, the BJP needs to exploit the differences that exist between him and PCC president D.K. Shiva Kumar. The Congress High Command is also viewing at multiple options and could bring in a Lingayat leader to head the PCC in place of D.K.Shiva Kumar, a Vokkaliga, given the fact that the majority of people from that community support the Deva Gowda family. Thus, interesting times are here so far as Karnakata politics goes.
