BENGALURU: The Supreme Court verdict allowing the disqualified MLAs to contest the bypolls has brought much cheer to the rebels as well as Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, who will now have to focus on ensuring their re-election. Sources said if the court had barred the rebels from contesting the bypolls, it would have virtually ended their political careers, while also putting the CM in a spot.
It would have been difficult for Yediyurappa to give party tickets to family members of the disqualified MLAs or even candidates suggested by them.While the party would have opposed any such proposal, it would have risked its chances by ignoring the rebels. "For now, everything seems to be working according to plan," a source said.
However, the challenge before the CM and his party leaders now will be to deal with the complex local equations and ensure that supporters of the rebel lawmakers and the BJP cadre work as a cohesive unit. The BJP, with 105 members in the Assembly, will be looking to win at least 10 out of the 15 seats, to take its tally to 115 in the 224-member House. It may not be an easy task as the Congress has considerable base in most of these segments.
“It may not be easy for the BJP to convince its local leaders -- who lost the 2018 elections -- to work for the disqualified MLAs. The party cadre cannot suddenly accept the disqualified legislators as their leaders and work for them,” said sources. “The BJP leadership has the dual challenge of convincing their own leaders to accept new leaders and also to get Congress workers, who had worked for the disqualified MLAs in the last elections, into their fold. Failure to do so may damage the BJP,” sources pointed out.
However, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his party leaders are hopeful of taking their workers into confidence while the disqualified MLAs are likely to do everything possible to get the support of local Congress workers as they had represented the constituencies for a long time.