BELAGAVI: While Maharashtra’s Mahabharat saw an epic twist bringing in the BJP-NCP government overnight, in Karnataka, the saffron party is perhaps taking a leaf out of it and getting ready for its own Kurukshetra—the December 5 byelections.
In a surprise move, the BJP is extending a ‘hand’ to Congress leaders. On Sunday, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa met a sulking Congress leader Prakash Hukkeri (six-time MLA and former MP), a Lingayat leader, at a posh hotel owned by BJP MLA Ramesh Katti here. And Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi invited Congress MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar, also a Lingayat, to the BJP stating that she did not have a future in the Congress. Recently Hebbalkar had met Yediyurappa at his residence in Bengaluru.
It may become inevitable for the BJP to persuade several Lingayat MLAs to support Yediyurappa in the event the party fails to achieve the numbers for a stable government on December 9 when the results of the byelections will be announced. Hukkeri is a popular leader in Kagwad region, who could influence the voters.
Before Yediyurappa left for the poll campaign, he met Hukkeri. After his meeting, Hukkeri did not divulge any details and only said he met the CM to ask him to expedite the flood-relief works in the affected areas of Chikkodi.
Snubbing Prakash Hukkeri, Congress denied him the party ticket for Kagwad which he was keen on and fielded Raju Kage who defected from the BJP.
Chikkodi MLA Ganesh Hukkeri, son of Prakash Hukkeri, recently told TNIE that the party decided to field his father from Kagwad. But in dramatic developments in the last two weeks, the party instead asked Prakash Hukkeri to contest from Athani which he refused.
BJP was keen to rope in Ganesh during the last Operation Lotus. Now, it seems to be focusing on the father.
Prakash Hukkeri has been keen to return to the state politics ever since he was forced by the party into contesting the Lok Sabha election, which he had won in 2014 from Chikkodi Lok Sabha constituency. He was made to quit the state cabinet to contest the Lok Sabha polls, though he was unwilling to do so.
His son Ganesh was fielded from the seat vacated by his father in Chikkodi assembly segment in 2013 which he had won. Since then, Prakash has been putting pressure on the party to let him enter the state politics by contesting the assembly election but the Congress ignored him.