Not just Yatnal's bombshell, rebellion is brewing in Karnataka BJP

Factionalism has reared its head in the Karnataka BJP unit once again with the formation of a new state committee. That the discord has further deepened in the state unit is visible with many senior leaders sulking over the composition of the revamped team, which includes loyalists of veteran leader B S Yediyurappa and his son and state president B Y Vijayendra.

Senior leaders like Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, former Union minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Ramesh Jarkiholi, K S Eshwarappa, and V Somanna appear to be upset with the development, if party sources are to be belived. 

According to party insiders, six vice-presidents and three general secretaries, loyal to Yediyurappa, have been accommodated. Moreover, barring Vinay Bidare and M Rajendra, all are new faces in the new team.

A senior leader who spoke to The Federal said that at least 25 of the 32 office-bearers are either supporters of Yediyurappa or sympathisers of Vijayendra. Vijayendra’s coterie is dreaming of making him the next chief minister of Karnataka, if the party returns to power by “providence”, said the leader.

Except for a few, who are vocally opposing Yediyurappa and Vijayendra and are airing their discontentment openly, others are silently engaged in a “whispering campaign” against the new leadership. The leaders, who are upset but cannot venture to question the high command’s diktat, are either contenders for the post of either party head or Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly. Most of them belong to national secretary B L Santosh’s camp, the BJP leader who was instrumental in the downfall of Yediyurappa.

Sulking Somanna

Meanwhile, former minister and senior leader V Somanna, who appears to be upset with the alleged treatment meted out to him by the state unit and party’s high command, is slowly inching closer to the Congress.

Sommanna, who was elected to the Assembly previously from the Janata Dal, Congress, and the BJP since he made his debut in 1994, has been knocking on the doors of Congress and already held a few rounds of talks with the KPCC president and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar.

Congress sources said Somanna is expected to join them and the party is planning to field him from the Tumakuru constituency. Add Congress leader and Home Minister G Parameshwar's statement, it's clear where Somanna is headed. “Somanna has a bright political future and the party high command will take a call on his entry to the Congress.”

It appears Congress is trying to woo some of the disgruntled BJP leaders, after JD(S) joined hands with the Hindutva party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Sommana is disgruntled because he has been sidelined in the BJP, after his defeat in two constituencies in the recent Assembly polls.

Among the dissenters is Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who is ‘fearlessly’ criticising Yediyurappa and Vijayendra, regardless of consequences. He compared Yediyurappa to the wicked and cunning 'Shakuni' of Mahabharata and described the state office-bearers’ list prepared by Vijayendra as 'KJP-2'.

What is KJP?

To understand what KJP is, one has to go back to 2012.

KJP is the abbreviated form of Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) founded by Yediyurappa in 2012, after resigning as MLA and from the primary whip of the BJP on November 30, 2012. Though the KJP was considered as a splinter group of the BJP, interestingly, it did not profess Hindutva as its ideology and instead adopted a centrist social democratic stance with a secular outlook.

Scores of former and sitting legislators, ministers, and senior functionaries of the BJP joined KJP at that time. In the 2013 Assembly polls, KJP, under the leadership of Yediyurappa, won 6 of the 203 seas it had contested and secured about 10 percent of the votes. Though the party did not make any significant gains, it had restricted the BJP to just 40 seats in that election.

Though he was disappointed with the party’s performance, Yediyurappa announced that the KJP would support the BJP-led NDA to ensure the victory of Narendra Modi and merge KJP with BJP in 2014.

Yatnal alleged,” The present state unit headed by Vijayendra is just KJP-2, where all those supported KJP-1 are being accommodated along with loyalists of Yediyurappa and his son.”

Yatnal’s salvo

Further embarrassing the Opposition BJP, Yatnal, fired one more salvo on Tuesday (December 26) at Yediyurappa and the previous BJP regime. He said Yediyurappa was involved in a ₹40,000 crore scam during the COVID-19 wave in his tenure. He warned that he would expose him in this scam if expelled from the party.

This allegation from their own partyman has come as a rude shock for the new team, which met in Bengaluru to discuss the preparation for the 2024 Parliamentary polls.

Former Union minister and MP from Bengaluru North, D V Sadananda Gowda felt that there were some problems in the list and leaders from Delhi should have discussed the issue before announcing the list. Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders S T Somashkear and Shivaram Hebbar are also cosying up to the Congress.

Vijayendra's test

In the midst of this bitter squabbling, Yediyurappa and Vijayendra, who are enjoying the blessings of the party high command, especially Modi and Amit Shah, have said that they had taken into account different communities, sects from Mumbai Karnataka, Kittur Karnataka regions as well besides giving priority to youth while appointing the office bearers for this new team.

Most BJP leaders, especially Yatnal, think this new team will not last beyond the Lok Sabha polls. “Vijayendra has assured the party leadership that he will ensure victory in all 28 Parliament seats. He will be shown the door, if the party loses even one seat,” said a senior BJP leader.