MYSURU: The BJP, which is organising Sankalp Yatra to drum up support and instill confidence among cadres in the run-up to Assembly polls next year, could land in trouble as all’s not well in the state BJP unit. The schism was evident when former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s name was missing from the Sankalp Yatra in Koppal that enraged the Lingayat strongman and his supporters.
Persuaded by BJP national president JP Nadda, Yediyurappa relented, and took part in the event. The leaders have been firmly claiming that there is no rift between Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his predecessor, and the party has treated him with dignity as he is a member of the party’s National Central Parliamentary Board.
The buzz is the key leader has been cornered. Yediyurappa was instrumental in prevailing on party high command to make Bommai the chief minister when three more names were doing the rounds.Yediyurappa strongly hinted, during a recent meeting, that no one can finish or neglect him. Bommai hurriedly clarified that he has no differences with Yediyurappa, with whom he shares a relationship like that of a father and son.
The CM and party leaders have an uphill task to keep Yediyurappa in good humour and bring him to the centre stage to fight against Congress and JDS. A sulking Yediyurappa will be more dangerous for the saffron brigade than a unified Congress as he commands a strong support base among the dominant Lingayats and rural masses. It might spoil the party’s poll prospects, since in the past, he has managed to take sway 9.5 per cent of votes when he floated KJP party, and contested in 2013 that helped Congress come to power with an absolute majority.
A senior leader said that small miscalculations might be calamitous for the party as he is the sole mass attraction in the BJP, with the community yet to accept Bommai as their leader. They felt that the party should soon accept his demands as Yediyurappa sought a clear indication from the party regarding the role of his son BY Vijayendra, whom he considers his natural successor.