BENGALURU: The BJP, which has changed more than 60 per cent of its sitting MPs in Karnataka, is facing a number of challenges ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP-JDS coordination meeting is to be held in Bengaluru on Friday.
On one side, aspirants and their followers have been expressing displeasure over being overlooked, and senior BJP leaders have been pacifying them. While dissent in Mysuru-Kodagu, Bengaluru North, Davanagere and Chikkaballapura has almost fizzled out, the party is facing a challenge in Uttara Kannada, Chitradurga and Raichur.
Of 25 BJP candidates, nine are Lingayats, four are from SCs, three Brahmins, three Vokkaligas, two from ST, one Bunt, and three from Other Backward Classes. With nine Lingayats on the list, Vokkaliga Sangha members are showing unhappiness.
According to a senior BJP leader, the JDS is also fielding two Vokkaliga candidates, pushing up the community number to five, which is not low representation. In Old Mysuru region, some leaders are unhappy with the Vokkaliga representation, after former CM DV Sadananda Gowda and Pratap Simha were denied tickets.
The party has fielded 15 new faces this time, of which a few are warhorses in the state, like Jagadish Shettar from Belagavi, Govind Karjol from Chitradurga and V Somanna from Tumakuru. All three senior leaders are considered ‘outsiders’ in their constituencies, and local leaders are unhappy that the party is fielding outsiders.
Senior BJP leader and MLC Ravikumar said they are not ‘outsiders’. While Shettar and Somanna are from neighbouring constituencies, Karjol served as Deputy CM and is known in the region. “All of them are from Karnataka and know the language and culture. This will not be an issue,” he said.
One of the main challenges for BJP is its alliance with the JDS. Party sources, on condition of anonymity, said this in fact, is the biggest challenge. “Just a year ago, both parties were working against each other inside the House and outside. They contested against each other in 2023 and within a year, it is not easy for parties to work together. It is not as easy as top leaders joining hands. At the grassroots, they are from different parties,” said sources. Also, minority votes will get consolidated and Congress will get an upper hand.
READY FOR BATTLE
Basavaraj Bommai (Haveri), V Somanna (Tumakuru), B Sriramulu (Ballari), Kota Srinivas Poojary (Udupi-Chikkamagaluru), PC Mohan (Bengaluru Central), Tejasvi Surya (Bengaluru South), Shobha Karandlaje (Bengaluru North), PC Gaddigoudar (Bagalkot), Annasaheb Jolle (Chikkodi), BY Raghavendra (Shivamogga), Dr Umesh Jadav (Gulbarga), Ramesh Jigajinagi (Vijayapura), Dr Basavaraj Kyavator (Koppal), Dr CN Manjunath (Bengaluru Rural), S Balaji (Chamarajanagara), Gayathri Siddeshwara (Davanagere), Bhagawanth Khuba (Bidar), Pralhad Joshi (Hubballi), Capt Brijesh Chowta (Dakshina Kannada), Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar (Mysuru- Kodagu), Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri (Uttara Kannada), Dr Sudhkar (Chikkaballapura), Govind Karajol (Chitradurga), Raja Amareshwara Naik (Raichur) and Jagadish Shettar (Belagavi)