BENGALURU: Riding on the euphoria generated by the huge turnout and public response during the campaigning for the recent bypolls Nanjangud and Gundlupet, it was a rude awakening for the BJP when the counting of votes started. For the party which was eager to lock horns with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and was impatient to wait till 2018 for its ‘Mission 150’, the road ahead has suddenly seems bumpy.
The defeat has reignited dissidence within the party against the style of functioning of BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa and the group challenging his leadership has gained new vigour.
Blaming Yeddyurappa, without taking his name, for the defeat, senior party leader K S Eshwarappa analysed the result in his own style saying, “Victory has only one father (read BS Yeddyurappa), while defeat has many.”
The bypoll results have also emboldened Eshwarappa to resume his active engagement with Sangolli Rayanna Brigade (SRB). It may be recalled that Eshwarappa was asked by party national president Amit Shah to distance himself from SRB and organise backward and dalit rallies under the banner of BJP following complaints from Yeddyurappa against his association with SRB.
Attributing the Congress victory to its “pact with JD(S), money power and misuse of government machinery,” Yeddyurappa said, “I have convened a meeting of party leaders on April 23 to introspect on the causes for the defeat. We will have a free and frank discussion on all the factors that led to the defeat and work out strategies for winning the 2018 Assembly polls. There is no need to despair as our vote share has gone up in both the seats.”
However, the dissidents are preparing for a confrontation by calling a separate meeting on April 27 to deliberate on the state of affairs in the party. When asked about the need for a separate meeting, Eshwarappa said, “I will present my views on the causes for BJP’s defeat in the meeting convened by Yeddyurappa on April 23. I may participate in the April 27 meeting if invited.”
The meeting is expected to be attended by MLC Bhanuprakash, former minister Shivanna, former Mayor of Bengaluru Venkatesh Murthy among others apart from Eshwarappa. The dissidents, who were lying low, are questioning the strategies adopted by Yeddyurappa for the bypolls, where the party banked heavily on Veerashaiva and Dalit votes while not showing keenness to reach out to all segments of society, the dissidents allege.
The dissident group has decided to meet BJP national president Amit Shah seeking decisive action to implement his instruction on revamping some of the district units, stop neglecting the committed party workers and change in working style of Yeddyurappa, who is accused of taking unilateral decisions on key issues.
The dissidents are determined to convey the message that ‘Mission 150’ could remain a pipe dream if the party refuses to learn from the mistakes of the bypolls.