BENGALURU: With just a few days left for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, a BJP Delhi team is constantly watching a few constituencies, where there is a tough fight and also bickering within the party.
In the state, BJP has 25 MPs, one independent, one JDS and one Congress MP. BJP this time is contesting from 25 seats, while leaving three to their alliance partner JDS. A senior BJP leader, requesting anonymity, said that with more than half of the sitting MPs replaced, there is dissent among leaders who did not get the tickets and their followers. “Some of them are not campaigning for our party candidates, putting the latter in an embarrassing position,” he said.
Some of these disgruntled leaders were convinced by senior BJP leaders like BS Yediyurappa, Pralhad Joshi and others, and they are now campaigning for party candidates. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his recent visit to the state, had warned some of them.
Party sources said that Shah’s interaction with some of the party leaders revealed that he knew more details about the dissent in each constituency than the state leaders. “We are aware that they have a dedicated team here which is working at each constituency, watching every move or statement of some leaders. They report to BJP state incharge Radhamohan Agarwal, who sends information to Delhi,” the sources added.
The constituencies being watched are Mysuru, Chikkaballapur, Hassan, Koppal, Belagavi, Mandya, Bengaluru North and a few others. “In the last year’s Assembly polls, we lost close to 20 seats where we had a good chance of winning. The negative results were because of the bickering among our party leaders. The BJP team from Delhi has kept a watch to prevent a repeat of that in the Lok Sabha elections as that could damage the party’s prospects,” the sources added.
At some places, like in Hassan, BJP leaders are not cooperating with JDS candidates. This too has not gone down well with the party leaders in Delhi. “They are watching and such leaders will face the consequences once the polls are over,” the sources warned.