BENGALURU: The BJP ‘rebel’ camp, led by Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, is likely to stay in New Delhi for a couple of days starting Tuesday, seeking the removal of BJP state president BY Vijayendra from his post. It will also insist upon the top leadership to elect a new president through an election.
The Yatnal camp is moving swiftly, assuming that the party would announce Vijayendra’s presidency unanimously anytime soon as the Assembly polls to Delhi are concluding on February 5. Party’s Karnataka organisational polls in-charge, Union minister Shivaraj Singh Chouhan, may arrive to make the announcement. It is interesting to see whether Yatnal and his followers will be able to convince the high command to hold polls for the state president’s post. If the top brass accedes, the rebel camp will be able to announce its candidate against Vijayendra.
Though there are no proposals from other state units to hold elections for the presidents’ posts, the Yatnal camp insisting on it in Karnataka. Former ministers Kumar Bangarappa, Ramesh Jarkiholi and former chief minister’s BS Yediyurappa’s grand-nephew NR Santhosh have sworn allegiance to the Yatnal camp. They landed in New Delhi on Monday, while Yatnal and Harihara MLA BP Hareesh, among others, may join them on Tuesday.
They want to ask the high command to invalidate the election of presidents to 23 organisational districts as they claim that Vijayendra has handpicked them to help himself retain the state president’s post.
They plan to garner the support of BJP MPs from the state, especially those who are averse to Vijayendra and Yediyurappa’s family, and also neutral leaders, such as Chikkaballapur MP Dr K Sudhakar, former Davanagere MP GM Siddeshwara and Chitradurga MP Govind Karjol, who were reportedly miffed with the appointment of district presidents without consulting them.
On behalf of the rebels, senior leader Arvind Limbavali, who originally hails from the Sangh Parivar, has already held a round of talks with BJP national president JP Nadda, while a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on the cards.
Yatnal said he will expose Vijayendra’s misdeeds, when his father BS Yediyurappa was the CM.
The rebels are likely to highlight the fact that most office-bearers, including district presidents who were appointed, belong to the Vijayendra camp, and this will damage the party’s organisation in the long run, a source informed The New Indian Express.
“The high command may consider this complaint and suggest a reshuffle of office-bearers. But is unlikely to make a U-turn with the state president’s post. It knows that any misadventure, especially with Yediyurappa and Vijayendra, would likely complicate matters further,” the source added.
Meanwhile on February 6, Union minister Pralhad Joshi has arranged a meeting of former minister B Sriramulu, who was miffed over the party’s state in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal’s charge that Sriramulu’s lack of participation cost BJP the Sandur bypoll.