Karnataka polls: Rising rebellion shows not all is well within ‘disciplined' BJP

The ruling BJP in Karnataka is trying hard to divert people’s attention from scams and other major allegations against the party by unveiling portraits of freedom fighters, including that of Veer Savarkar at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi. But recent incidents show that not everything is right within the “disciplined” party.

As the rift between former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his nominee, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, widens, senior leaders like former ministers KS Eshwarappa, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Janardhana Reddy, and Sriramulu are exhibiting their rebellious attitude quite openly.

This has embarrassed CM Bommai and the party’s state president Nalin Kumar Kateel and even the party’s central leadership. It is said that the party’s national president JP Nadda has sought information about the development and asked the CM to handle it.

Rebels skip Assembly session

The rebel leaders, including Eshwarappa and Jarkiholi, both former ministers, did not attend the winter session of the Legislative Assembly, which started on Monday, as a mark of protest. Eshwarappa has written a letter to the Speaker, saying he will not attend the session for some unforeseen reasons.

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However, he told the media later that he was unhappy with CM Bommai for not making him minister again and neglecting him. Eshwarappa was asked to resign from the Bommai Cabinet after he faced allegations of taking 40% commission charges by the contractors’ association, and a BJP worker-cum-contractor committed suicide after mentioning Eshwarappa’s name.

Eshwarappa, a senior leader from Shivamogga constituency, needs Yediyurappa’s support to win the elections, as he needs Lingayat votes in his favour. He wants his son KE Kantesh to be a successor from his constituency, just like BSY is pitching his son BY Vijayendra as the candidate from Shikaripur. In the 2018 elections, he tried to pitch his son’s candidacy for the Ranebennur Assembly constituency. This time, Eshwarappa is eyeing Shivamogga for him, as party leaders have hinted at dropping his name in the coming elections. The party is thinking of introducing new faces.

However, even though the party is interested in naming party workers for 20% of constituencies, including Shivamogga, it is reportedly not favouring family politics, and the chances of Kantesh becoming Eshwarappa’s successor are low. At the same time, the Kuruba leader Eshwarappa is also worried that the party is interested in developing another Kuruba leader Raghunath Rao Malkapure, who has been made interim Chairman of the Legislative Council. Eshwarappa has been given a clean chit in the BJP worker’s suicide case by the investigating agency and is now trying to become a minister, at least till the Assembly elections, but is said to be neglected by Bommai.

Rebels join hands

All these compounding factors have made Eshwarappa give vent to his anger and, in a strategic move, he wrote a letter to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and made a statement before the media. “I have been careful not to embarrass the party. BSY, the CM, and Kateel assured me that I would be made a minister again. The high command has not neglected leaders in the state. A space was given to BSY at the Centre. I don’t want the party to be divided,” said Eshwarappa.

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He also met another BJP rebel, Jarkiholi, who was poached from the Congress through “Operation Lotus” and was made to resign from the Cabinet after facing allegations of rape. The liquor baron, Jarkiholi, from the Valmiki community (ST), once had high-level contacts in Delhi and was being targeted by the BJP and also the opponent, Congress. He is also trying to bag a minister’s berth again after getting a clean chit from the investigating agency. He is worried that when he was out of the Cabinet, his brother Balachandra Jarkiholi was also not inducted into the ministry. This is the first time in a decade that no Jarkiholi is occupying a seat of power in the state.

Now, both the former ministers, Eshwarappa and Ramesh Jarkiholi, have joined hands to wage a silent war against Bommai’s leadership. Jarkiholi is said to have prepared grounds to leave the BJP to join JDS. And Eshwarappa’s move against the government explains that everything is not right within the “disciplined” party. They met in Belagavi and discussed their next moves.

Interestingly, Eshwarappa went back to Bengaluru and called a press meeting and expressed his displeasure with party elders. He was unhappy about the promise by the party leaders not being fulfilled. He briefed the media about how he, along with other leaders, worked hard for the BJP to gain momentum in the state in the 1990s. “I have worked with leaders like Ananth Kumar and BSY. I supported Jagdish Shettar, Pralhad Joshi, and Sadananda Gowda when they were party presidents, he said.

The third rebel

However, Bommai said he was in touch with Ramesh Jarkiholi and Eshwarappa. “Non-participation of Jarkiholi and Eshwarappa in the Assembly is not a boycott. They are right in their thinking that they must return to the council of ministers once they were cleared of all charges,” he added.

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Mining baron Janardhana Reddy, who was a minister in the BSY government, also wants to come back to politics. It is said that he will contest this time, whether BJP issues a ticket to him or not. If the BJP does not issue a ticket mentioning his scams, he may reportedly contest by reviving his friend Sriramulu’s BSR Congress or his other friend Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress. Even Sriramulu, the ST leader of the BJP, may indirectly support Reddy, it is being said.

BSY versus Bommai?

Insiders say that a cold war is brewing between the BJP veteran BSY and CM Bommai, who was nominated to the post by the former. Bommai is said to be irked by and worried about BSY interfering in his administration. With the government facing a series of allegations of various scams and administration failures, Bommai reportedly wants to be strict, which has made him and his mentor a bit unhappy with each other.

It was reflected in Bommai not inviting BSY to several government-turned-party programmes. However, Bommai maintained that BSY has always been like a father figure to him. BSY also has dismissed reports that he is being neglected in the party and said he has his strength and no one can finish him off politically.

A senior BJP leader said these infights between leaders and open expression of dissent will damage the party’s credibility, and it will play a big role during the elections. The BJP is not a party like the Congress or the JDS, which back family politics. But these days, BJP leaders are acting like those of Congress and trying to portray their family members in politics, which the Sangh Parivar will reject, he said.