BENGALURU: Internal bickering within the ruling BJP came to the fore as the party’s ‘Vijayasankalpa’ rath yatra stopped abruptly at Housing Minister V Somanna’s constituency Govindarajanagar, with Revenue Minister R Ashoka skipping it midway on Monday evening.
The roadshow, in which BJP Karnataka in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje took part, was planned up to Nayandahalli. But as Pradhan hopped off at Nagarabavi, Ashoka followed suit, though Somanna tried to convince him. Upset, Somanna also abandoned the rath yatra, and left in his car, leaving the rath and workers in the lurch.
Of the four rath yatras, one was assigned to Vokkaliga leader R Ashoka in Old Mysuru region, and earlier at the launch, he had even spoken appreciatively of Somanna.
But differences have erupted between them, and pose a setback for the party in the run-up to assembly polls, especially as Home Minister Amit Shah wants to win most of the 28 assembly seats in the IT capital. There were differences between the duo as they both wanted the Bengaluru in-charge minister’s post, but Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai retained it.
According to sources, Somanna, who was with JDS earlier, and switched to BJP for the sake of former CM B S Yediyurappa, has been in touch with KPCC president D K Shivakumar.
“Due to infighting between Min Somanna and Ashoka Vijaya Yatra stopped mid way in Bangalore Vijayanagar. Corruption Infighting, Communal, Misgovernance, No development = BJP Karnataka(sic),” tweeted Nandan Kashyap, social media coordinator for KPCC campaign committee for the 2023 polls.
Roadshows held
The BJP held roadshows led by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh at Anekal and Chandapura, Bommai at Basavanagudi in Bengaluru, state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, CT Ravi, Mysuru MP Pratap Simha at Malavalli, Srirangapatna in Mandya district, as a prelude to PM Narendra Modi’s arrival to dedicate the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway on March 12.