Amid the delay in the release of the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP)’s list of candidates for the upcoming Karnaaka assembly elections, former Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa arrived in Bengaluru on Monday night.His return from Delhi without the announcement of the first list of candidates sparked speculation that Yediyurappa was upset with the party.
The polling for Karnataka Elections is to be held on May 10 and the counting of votes will happen on May 13.The results will be out the same day right after the counting is finished.
BJP organised a marathon meeting and Yediyurappa participated in almost all the party meetings for the 2023 Karnataka elections, but the Union Home Minister Amit Shah also held a separate meeting with the current Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the discussion about Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra.
The separate meeting is speculated to be the reason behind Yediyurappa’s displeasure but he clarified later that his absence was due to election-related strategies rather than a fall-out.
Reports suggest that the party is in a troubled position as it is keen on following the Gujarat model for this year’s Karnataka Assembly polls which may see the incumbent MLAs contest independently, threatening the party’s majority win.
BJP had denied tickets to the sitting legislators and brought in new faces during the Gujarat elections which worked in the party’s favour.Yediyurappa has already announced his retirement from politics and also stated that his son Vijayendra would contest elections from the Shikaripura constituency.However, the party high command had planned to pit Vijayendra against Siddaramaiah in the Varuna constituency but the same wasn’t discussed with Yediyurappa in any of the party meetings, as per reports.
Discussions about Vijayendra being denied the ticket from the Shikaripura constituency by the party started brewing and this might have been the reason behind Yediyurappa’s return to the state, right before the release of the candidates’ list.
Yediyurappa, therefore, has no clarity about what the high command will do, according to reports.
Moreover, former ministers such as KS Eshwarappa, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Basangouda Patil Yatnal and MP Renukacharya are some others who are upset with the party’s high command for various reasons.
