Karnataka 'ghar wapsi': Yediyurappa's efforts in vain? 25 BJP leaders may switch to Congress

For Karnataka BJP, troubles seem to be mounting day by day.

It seems there is no stopping the “ghar wapsi” of the disgruntled BJP MLAs once poached from the Congress to topple the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka in 2019. Since none of the state party bigwigs made any effort to prevent them from leaving, it ultimately fell on old-hand BS Yediyurappa to try to convince the leaders, who helped him form the government, to stay back. But his attempt has reportedly fallen flat.

If sources are to be believed, at least 15 sitting MLAs (and 10 former legislators) are reportedly in talks with Congress and likely to switch sides.

On Monday (August 21), the former chief minister led a core committee meeting of the party at its state headquarters in Bengaluru, but if our sources are to be believed, the matter is already out of hand.

The party central leadership’s inordinate delay in selecting the Opposition leader and the state president has not only left the party rudderless in the state but weakened the veteran leader’s position too.

A rudderless party

The developments have reportedly weakened the hold of BJP national general secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh as well. Santosh, who played a major role in pulling Yediyurappa down from the chief minister’s post in 2021 on the grounds of age, is also the 80-year-old leader’s rival for a hold over the party in the state. This friction cost the party dear in the Assembly elections earlier this year.

Santosh was also instrumental in selecting MLA candidates for the elections, and those close to him hold prominent posts in the state BJP. One of them is state party president, Nalin Kumar Kateel, who is still serving in the post though his term is over. But now, in the time of crisis, it’s Yediyurappa who had to shoulder the burden of trying to retain the leaders because they had joined the party mainly because of him, a party leader told The Federal. However, even arguably “the most popular leader is not in a position to handle the crisis”, he added.

In all, 15 sitting MLAs and 10 former MLAs from the North Karnataka and Old Mysuru regions are reportedly in touch with the Congress, and most of them are originally from the party. The grand old party has reportedly planned a massive rally to welcome them back into its fold. The event has been tentatively scheduled for September 21, a month from now.

Vokkaliga leader and MLA ST Somashekhar, Kuruba leader Bairathi Basavaraj, and Brahmin leader Shivaram Hebbar have already approached Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief DK Shivakumar. Somasekhar held talks with Siddaramaiah on Sunday. Basavaraj even chose to skip the meeting called by Yediyurappa.

The core committee

Apart from Yediyurappa, the newly formed core committee of the state BJP includes Kateel, DV Sadananda Gowda, Basavaraj Bommai, former National General Secretary CT Ravi, State BJP General Secretary (Organisation) GV Rajesh, former deputy chief ministers KS Eshwarappa and R Ashok, and Dr CN Ashwath Narayan.

“Since the state president and other leaders took no action, it fell on Yediyurappa to take the initiative, and the party high command sent Union Minister Prahlad Joshi to join the meeting as well,” a senior BJP leader told The Federal.

He revealed that the committee members were upset at not being able to find a solution to the mass defection, which is likely to affect the party in the upcoming Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and zilla panchayat elections and also the 2024 parliamentary polls. In fact, the state BJP unit is currently in such a mess that no actions were taken even though a few MLAs made open remarks against its leadership.

Unable to find a solution to the crisis, the core committee apparently decided to chalk out plans to attack the Congress over corruption issues instead and rebuild the enthusiasm among party leaders and workers, sources said.