BENGALURU: In order to take BJP MLAs into confidence, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai met them at his residence on Thursday and held talks on various issues. Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who used to meet Gujarat BJP MLAs when he was CM of the western state, Bommai has decided to hold meetings with his party MLAs every Thursday. In the first such meeting, some BJP MLAs from Bengaluru expressed displeasure over not getting grants to take up development works in their constituencies. They were unhappy over disparity in allocation of funds.
The legislators from Bengaluru reportedly told Bommai that their constituencies were neglected for the past 8-9 years, while some influential party MLAs and turncoats from JDS and Congress got grants for their segments. The CM assured them of grants, depending on availability of funds.
BJP sources said some party MLAs from Bengaluru, including Ravi Subramanya (Basavanagudi), S Raghu (CV Raman Nagar), Uday Garudachar (Chickpet), M Krishnappa (Bengaluru South), Satish Reddy (Bommanahalli) were part of the meeting. The team discussed Bengaluru-related issues, including elections to BBMP.
During the Congress government from 2013 to 2018, and during the Congress-JDS coalition government in 2019, the constituencies represented by BJP MLAs got fewer grants. When Yediyurappa took oath as CM in 2019, he assured them of grants, but set aside more funds for constituencies where bypolls took place after rebel MLAs from Congress and JDS joined BJP, including Rajarajeshwarinagar, KR Puram, Yeshwanthpur and Mahalakshmi Layout. Some powerful MLAs got good grants as they also served as ministers, sources added.
“Only MLAs from core Bengaluru and not so influential MLAs got nothing, and they were unhappy,’’ sources told TNIE.
Meanwhile, several other BJP MLAs, including Masale Jayaram (Turuvekere), Amrut Desai (Dharwad Rural), Preetham Gowda (Hassan) and Umanath Kotyan (Mulky-Moodbidri) too met Bommai.
When Yediyurappa was the CM, there were complaints from several quarters, including from within the party, over BY Vijayendra’s interference when they wanted to meet the CM to discuss their constituencies. “To take party legislators into confidence, Bommai will be meeting MLAs every Thursday,’’ sources from the CMO said.
According to sources, Bommai heard out the woes of the legislators and explained to them the financial condition of the state owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. He discussed roads, drinking water and other amenities in their constituencies, and told them to work towards strengthening the party, with a series of polls in the near future, including the October 30 bypolls to Sindagi and Hanagal. While a couple of MLAs raised the issue of appointing chairpersons for various boards and corporations, Bommai reportedly told them that a decision will be taken by the party high command.