BENGALURU: A day after BJP dropped 38 sitting MLAs in its first list announced for the next month’s Gujarat Assembly elections, several MLAs in Karnataka are now worried ahead of the 2023 polls in the state. In the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, BJP has 117 MLAs (excluding former minister Umesh Katti who passed away recently and Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri, who won on a BJP ticket). Independent MLA N Mahesh, who was earlier with BSP, supports the saffron party.
A senior BJP leader told The New Indian Express that though BJP has been in power for the last three years, many seniors were denied a place in the cabinet as the party had to accommodate turncoats who helped BS Yediyurappa form the government. “Many legislators, who have won 3-4 times, weren’t made ministers. If the party decides not to give them tickets in 2023, it will be unfair,”he added.
BJP sources said the party is conducting a survey at the constituency level to hunt for winnable candidates.
“Like Gujarat, we cannot drop old faces. Karnataka is different and we need seniors to win elections. These leaders associate themselves with major communities and dropping them will impact our prospects in the polls,” a BJP source added.
Meanwhile, a few leaders and those associated with the party at the grassroots level are hoping that Karnataka BJP will follow the Gujarat mode, and give a chance to fresh faces . Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya had recently said senior leaders should pave the way for youngsters to contest the 2023 polls.