Faced with a brewing rebellion over ticket distribution in Karnataka, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has a stern message for the state’s BJP cadre — rally behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi or face consequences.
According to party sources, with dissent brewing in seats such as Chitradurga, Davanagere, Tumkur, and Chikkaballapur, Shah, who travelled to Bengaluru for a coordination meeting with the Janata Dal (Secular) last week, has sent out a message that candidate selection was “not done by (former CM) Yediyurappa or Vijayendra, or on anyone else’s recommendations but purely on winnability”.
The leaders have also been told that their political future in the party will depend on their actions, the sources said. “Home Minister Amit Shah said at the meeting (last week) that it’s wrong to question Yediyurappa or Vijayendra over ticket distribution. They were told this wasn’t Yediyurappa’s or Vijayendra’s election. This is PM Modi’s election, and every party leader should ensure his victory,” one party source said, adding that factors such as caste and anti-incumbency were also taken into account while picking candidates.
Yediyurappa, Vijayendra, BJP leader and Karnataka’s Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, and the party’s Karnataka in-charge Radha Mohan Agarwal attended this meeting.
Despite the stern message, however, some leaders remain defiant. According to sources, former BJP minister and six-time Chikkanayakanahalli MLA JC Madhuswamy, who had been angling for a ticket from Tumkur and has publicly opposed the BJP candidate V. Somanna, skipped the meeting. Meanwhile, ex-deputy chief minister KS Eshwarappa, who has also been sulking over the BJP’s nominations, was called for a meeting with the Delhi leadership but was eventually denied an audience.
However, despite Amit Shah’s assurances that Yediyurappa did not influence the ticket distribution, one senior BJP leader said that after last year’s assembly election, the party realised that the former chief minister was still an “undisputed mass leader” in the state and his opinion held weight.
Many tickets in the 2023 assembly elections were given based on suggestions from BJP’s national general secretary B.L. Santosh but most of them lost, this leader said.
“This time, many sitting MPs were dropped because of high anti-incumbency. Shobha (BJP general secretary and Udupi Chikmagalur MP Shobha Karandlaje) was shifted to Bengaluru. In Shettar’s case, it was Yediyurappa who made his candidature possible in consultation with the central leadership. V. Somanna was given a ticket despite his public digs at Yediyurappa,” the senior party leader said, adding that apart from the Lingayat strongman’s suggestions, feedback was also taken from other sources.
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