NEW DELHI: Having done a full background check on six chief ministerial aspirants, the BJP top brass is likely to initiate consultations on identifying the successor to the aging Karnataka incumbent B S Yediyurappa. With Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda returning to Delhi from their respective tours of the Northeast and Goa, consultation with the top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leadership is likely before taking the final call.
While Yediyurappa, 78, has been sharing a timeline on how the situation would unfold, the BJP leadership here is patiently watching his show of strength with the Lingayat seers. Their reading is he will not settle peacefully till a prominent position is ensured for his son B Y Vijayendra.
“The BJP leadership, as part of a routine exercise, has done a thorough background check on six candidates. Five of them are B L Santhosh (national organisational secretary), C N Ashwath Narayan (deputy CM), C T Ravi (national general secretary), Murugesh Nirani and Basavaraj Bommai (both state ministers). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosbole will decide on the successor. There can also be a surprise candidate on the lines of Uttarakhand’s Pushkar Singh Dhami,” said a senior BJP functionary.
A senior leader said the BJP will not do anything to lose support among Lingayats at a time when the focus is to make inroads into the JD(S)’s Vokkaliga base. Nirani, meanwhile, reached Delhi, while Union minister Prahlad Joshi will be back from Karnataka. The BJP is keen for a leadership change to ensure sufficient time for the successor to find his feet.