BENGALURU: Signalling an aggressive bid to regain political ground in Karnataka, the BJP’s state Core Committee met on Monday under the chairmanship of party state president and MLA B Y Vijayendra. The high-level meeting came amid sustained criticism of the Congress government over governance failures and economic concerns.
Briefing the media after the meeting, former BJP national general secretary and MLC C T Ravi said the committee discussed the “cinema-style” shooting to death of a man in Ballari and decided to seek a CBI probe, citing a lack of confidence in the objectivity of the state government.
The meeting also reviewed preparations for the four upcoming Legislative Council elections, with Ravi stating that Vijayendra would hold discussions with NDA ally JDS on facing these polls unitedly.
According to Ravi, the committee also took up allegations of Rs 11,000 crore going missing from the Gruha Lakshmi scheme, the party’s strategy for the forthcoming Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat polls, and concerns over Bengaluru’s deteriorating civic conditions, which leaders described as the city turning into a “bad Bengaluru”.
The meeting also decided to go to the people and hold meetings regarding narcotic drugs in Mysore after a drug factory was discovered to be functional here before the three factories in Bengaluru, leakage of Gruha Lakshmi funds in Hubballi and local issues. They are also planning a series of meetings across Karnataka, including Kalaburagi, by taking up the failures of the Congress government.
The meeting was attended by a galaxy of senior leaders, including BJP parliamentary board member B S Yediyurappa, Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka, state co in-charge Sudhakar Reddy, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, former CM D V Sadananda Gowda, MP Govind Karjol and MLA Dr C N Ashwath Narayan.