BENGALURU: With the BJP high command clear about going to the 2023 Assembly polls with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as the party’s face, it is planning to split the state into ten divisions and give the responsibility of galvanising the party in them to national leaders from outside the state, sources said.
These leaders, who have a better understanding of the state, are expected to start their visits in November and collect the party’s ground survey reports and interact with ticket hopefuls. The leaders likely to be deputed are union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Smriti Irani, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis among others, a party leader said.
As BJP is facing many issues, including anti-incumbency and the ire of a section of party leaders after the death of BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru, uninfluenced national leaders could handle them properly, he said.
The party had applied a similar strategy in the Assembly polls in North India and has continued with it in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Union minister Pralhad Joshi and BJP national general secretary CT Ravi from Karnataka are now in Gujrat tasked with such responsibilities.
The party high command, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, is expected to experiment with the strategy in Karnataka too. As the party is trying to retain power in the state, the high command will look at the winnability of candidates besides their loyalty and chances of those joining from other parties getting tickets cannot be ruled out, a top source said. “Leaders from other parties are ready to join BJP as they feel the high command may go to the extent of forming the government even in the case of a fractured mandate,” he added.
RISE IN SC/ST RESERVATION AN ADVANTAGE
The Bommai government decided to increase reservation for SC/STs because the high command sensed that the caste equation, as earlier, could play a crucial role in the polls. Also, the government is likely to address their other demands, especially the 2A tag for the Panchamashali Lingayats, the sources said. The high command that is guiding Bommai in his every move will advise him on the quota issues too, the sources said.