BENGALURU: It has been close to three weeks since ten rebels who won the assembly bypolls with BJP tickets were sworn in as ministers in the B S Yediyurappa cabinet. But they are yet to start “party-building” activities which has irked some old-timers.In November 2019, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel had issued a directive asking all the ministers, who were in the cabinet then, to regularly visit the state party headquarters —Jagannath Bhavan at Malleswaram, interact with party workers and redress their issues. “The party president had specifically asked each of the ministers to be in the party office at least twice a month between 3 pm and 5 pm to talk to party workers. A similar arrangement is already in place at the party national headquarters in New Delhi where Union Ministers go to the party office regularly,” said BJP sources.
All the 17 ministers who took oath in the first round of induction in August 2019 visited the party office at regular intervals. They included Deputy Chief Ministers Dr C N Ashwath Narayan and Laxan Savadi, Ministers C T Ravi, Jagadish Shettar, K S Eshwarappa, Prabhu Chavan and others, the sources pointed out.
But the grouse is against the new ministers, who are not frequenting the party office. “We don’t know whether they are yet to get comfortable being members of the BJP as they have defected from the Congress and JD(S). But they are not coming to our office regularly. They have visited the office only a couple of times, including when they were formally inducted into the party,” the sources revealed.
“Of the new ministers, nine have visited the Bhavan only once after assuming office . But even those were flying visits. Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi is yet to make his appearance here,’’ the sources said.
When these leaders were inducted into the party, a large number of their followers too joined the BJP. “But unlike our grassroots workers, they are not associated with party activities. Some senior BJP leaders and ministers have expressed their displeasure over this,’’ the sources said. Trying to defend the new ministers, MLC and party spokesperson Ravikumar said that they went to the party office, but did not interact with the workers. “In coming weeks, they will be given a specific timetable and they will have to follow it,” he said.