Bengaluru, Jan 23 (PTI) The Karnataka BJP’s internal squabbles deepened on Thursday with old pals–mining baron B Janardhana Reddy and ex-minister B Sriramulu locking horns in public.
The trigger seems to be accusations against Sriramulu in the BJP core committee meeting that he was in some way responsible for the party’s defeat in the Sandur by-poll, after failing to secure the party nomination for himself. He was pulled up for not doing enough to win the election.
According to sources, a section in the BJP created an impression that Sriramulu was eyeing for a BJP ticket from Sandur after losing the 2023 assembly election and 2024 Lok Sabha poll. However, the party fielded Bangaru Hanumanthu, who lost to Congress’ Annapurna in the by-poll.
Following the accusations made in the core committee meeting, Sriramulu said he would prefer quitting the party.
The former MP and MLA on Wednesday openly accused Janardhana Reddy, the Gangavathi MLA of “backbiting” against him to party national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agarwal.
Responding, Reddy sought to remind Sriramulu that it was he who made him tread on the righteous path when he was thinking of avenging his uncle’s brutal murder.
“Quoting scriptures, I convinced Sriramulu to shun violence and give up crime, which he accepted. I brought him to the politics, helped him grow to the level of a minister. Probably that was my fault,” Reddy told reporters here on Thursday.
He said he has seen media reports that Sriramulu may join Congress to “control some bigwigs”.
Reacting to it, Sriramulu charged that Reddy is out to divide the party into two in Ballari.
“Janardhana Reddy has divided the party in Kampli assembly constituency and is set to finish his nephew Suresh Babu (politically). He has cornered his own brother G Somashekar and rendered him powerless. Even in Kudligi assembly segment he is doing so,” Sriramulu alleged in a press conference in Ballari.
Meanwhile, BJP national president J P Nadda spoke to Sriramulu over phone, sources close to him said.
“Nadda requested him to not to speak on this issue further in the media and make it a talking point for everyone,” a confidant of Sriramulu said.
The factional feud within the BJP Karnataka unit has been in the open recently, with the party’s Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and his faction publicly targeting the state president Vijayendra and his father and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
This feud gave the ruling Congress a chance to mock the opposition BJP.
Speaking to reporters in Raichur, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, “There are three to four factions in the BJP, whereas in our party there are no factions. Me and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar are together here. Where are factions amongst us?” “There is no groupism in our party while there is a vertical division in the BJP,” he added.
Siddaramaiah further said that the BJP leaders are indulged in a bitter fight while Congress is united.
“Congress is united. The Congress government is stable,” he added. PTI GMS GMS KH
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