– Mohammed Atherulla Shariff
Bengaluru, March 18: The conditions are not going favourable for the Bhartiya Janata Party in Karnataka, the gateway to south India. It is more internal than external factors that are causes of concern for the party this time.
Senior BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa walked out of the meeting midway on Sunday, reiterating that he would contest as an independent in Parliamentary polls and refused to share the dais with the Prime Minister. A BJP delegation’s efforts to pacify the sulking party veteran failed.
A delegation comprising BJP national general secretary Mohan Agarwal, legislator Araga Jnanendra and DS Arun held a meeting with Eshwarappa on Sunday afternoon. But Eshwarappa did not budge from his decision and walked out of the meeting, saying he had to attend another programme.
“There is no question of me withdrawing from the fray as an independent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is god for me. But I am contesting the election to liberate the party from the stranglehold of a family. I feel very sad for not participating in Modi’s convention,” he said.
On Friday, Eshwarappa had announced that he will contest as an independent candidate from the Shimoga seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, blaming party veteran and former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa for his son K.E. Kantesh being denied a ticket for the Haveri constituency.
Launching a broadside at Yediyurappa, Eshwarappa said central leaders are under the impression that Lingayats are in the hands of the former CM. He and his son Vijayendra are calling the shots in the state and as a result the party workers are disenchanted, Eshwarappa added.
Yediyurappa’s son and sitting MP BY Raghavendra is the party candidate from Shimoga, where Congress has fielded former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa’s daughter Geetha Shivarajkumar, wife of Kannada film star Shivarajkumar and daughter-in-law of thespian late Dr Rajkumar.
BJP has fielded former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from the Haveri seat. Eshwarappa, Yediyurappa and the late HN Ananth Kumar are widely credited for building the BJP in Karnataka from the grassroots.
The 75-year-old former Deputy Chief Minister reiterated his allegation that Yediyurappa, a member of the BJP Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee, had assured a ticket for his son and promised to campaign for his victory, but had now “cheated” him.
Eshwarappa said that Yediyurappa had ensured a ticket for Bommai and Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje, but “not for his son”.
He alleged that BJP’s state unit is in the clutches of the Yediyurappa family, with one son as MP and the other son BY Vijayendra as MLA and state president of the party.
Eshwarappa, a former state BJP president, also accused Yediyurappa of sidelining those who espoused the cause of Hindutva like Nalin Kumar Kateel, Pratap Simha, CT Ravi and DV Sadananda Gowda. Kateel, Simha and Gowda – all sitting MPs – have been denied Lok Sabha tickets.
A Black Spot
Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, police said here on Friday.
The girl’s mother alleged Yediyurappa ‘sexually assaulted’ her daughter during a meeting on February 2. Denying the charge, the 81-year-old BJP Parliamentary Board member said he would fight the case.
The complainant alleged that the incident took place on February 2 when her daughter went with her to meet Yediyurappa at his residence.
Hours after the Sadashivnagar police booked the case under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act and Section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Karnataka Director General of Police Alok Mohan transferred it to the Crime Investigation Department (CID).
Police sources said the girl’s mother had in the past lodged over 50 complaints against various people, including the then Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar, and his staff, for allegedly manhandling her and abusing her.
She lodged a complaint against Kumar twice – in 2021 and 2022 – and also against the retired Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and BJP leader for allegedly “conspiring to ruin her life,” in 2022.
Royal Disturbance
The two-time BJP MP from Mysore, Kodagu Pratap Simha’s public outburst against YKC Wadiyar has much more to tell than it appears about the internal conditions of the party. The brand ambassador hate campaigner, Simha has been denied ticket by the party this time.
Speaking to presspersons in Mysuru, Simha indirectly opposed the candidature of YKC Wadiyar, who is scion of the erstwhile royal family.
Mockingly, he said, “We should welcome those who are leading a luxurious life if they come down to share the people’s woes. I welcome the candidature of Wadiyar. I congratulate Karnataka BJP leaders for this.”
“If the person, who resides in the Palace, is willing to be a BJP worker, ready to distribute handbills and shout slogans at Dodda Gadiyara Circle, against the anti-people policies of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, we should welcome him,” he added.
Giving a reference to popular movie ‘Bahubali’, Simha said, “In the movie ‘Bahubali’ Prince Ararendra joins the people after Rajamatha expels him from the palace. Here, Wadiyar is coming voluntarily. So, we should be happy.”
Breach of Security in Parliament
Pratap Simha was more in news recently for adverse causes. It may be recalled that two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during the Zero Hour, released yellow smoke from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs, recently. It was Pratap Simha who had reportedly got entry passes to them.
Around the same time, two others, including a woman, raised slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters outside the Parliament premises, prompting police to round up the duo. But the question he’s running away from is very simple. Why and how did Simha facilitate the entry of two youths who caused a huge security breach in the Lok Sabha on December 13, 2023?
Pratap Simha’s brother Vikram Simha was arrested on Saturday by forest officials for allegedly felling trees illegally in Hassan district. It was alleged that 126 trees were axed on land in Nandagodanahalli in Hassan’s Belur taluk.
Capping all the internal turmoil in the party, the recent explosion of electoral bonds scam is proving to be a bad omen to the BJP which intends to consolidate its position in Karnataka.
