Bengaluru: Adjustment politics has harmed the health of the BJP and Karnataka, party legislator and former national general secretary C.T. Ravi said Tuesday, in what seemed to be a veiled jibe at the state unit leadership.
Although he didn’t take any names, as a known and vocal detractor of former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, Ravi appeared to be lending his weight to a group of senior BJP leaders who trained their guns at state BJP chief and Yediyurappa’s son B.Y. Vijayendra.
“Whoever fights for the party becomes a scapegoat. Those who compromise ideals and subscribe to adjustment politics tend to do well for themselves, band together and finish off those who follow ideology-based politics,” Ravi, a member of the Legislative Council (MLC), told reporters Tuesday.
His remarks come at a time when several senior party members, including Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, Ramesh Jarkiholi, and Prathap Simha, have levelled accusations against state BJP leaders of compromising ideals for personal benefit.
Vijaypura MLA Yatnal has accused Vijayendra of taking orders on carrying out the Bengaluru-Mysuru padayatra from Congress leader and deputy chief minister D. K. Shivakumar to help the latter replace Siddaramaiah as CM. He has also accused him of indulging in corruption and blackmailing BJP MLAs.
Two days ago, in a viral video, former BJP MP from Mysuru Prathap Simha was heard saying that the Vokkaliga community was being ill-treated by the state unit of the party, which favoured loyalists over honest workers and performers. Vijayendra is from the Lingayat community.
However, the conspicuous silence and lack of action against dissenters have prompted questions among party insiders and analysts about whether this rebellion has been sanctioned by the party’s central leadership in Delhi.
Also read: Chink in NDA’s armour in Karnataka? JD(S) backs out of BJP-led padayatra in state
‘Wrong how children of political leaders enter party’
Simha has also raised the issue of, what he says is, Yediyurappa’s tightening grip on the party and the children of senior leaders being appointed to high offices.
In a conversation with Udayavani, a Kannada news outlet, Simha launched a tirade against Yediyurappa and Vijayendra, joining the growing voices opposing the strongman. “It’s not wrong that children of political leaders desire getting into politics, but the way they enter is wrong,” Simha said, adding that people who have struggled believe that their children now have the right to be placed in high offices.
Simha, a two-time MP from Mysuru-Kodagu, was replaced by Yaduveer Wadiyar, the custodian of the erstwhile royal family of Mysore, which the former said was “injustice” and would not have happened if Ananth Kumar, the former BJP Karnataka unit president, was still alive.
In the 23-minute-long interaction, Simha said he had done more as a two-time MP than several other senior politicians who had served 40-50 years in the party.
“I am asking if politicians with 40-50 years of experience… Show me one accomplishment of yours like the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. Show me another MP from India who brought 13 trains to the region and developed a train station at Rs 356 crore. Show me another project that is Rs 50 crore, forget Rs 356 crore. Since I had done so much work, I have the eligibility and seniority,” Simha said in the video.
‘Rebellion grows within BJP’
On Sunday, at least five senior BJP legislators held a meeting at a resort in Karnataka’s Belagavi that lasted about five hours.
Helmed by the so-called Yediyurappa baiters, Yatnal and BJP MLA from Gokak Ramesh Jarkiholi, the meeting was also attended by Simha, G.M. Siddeshwar, Anna Saheb Jolle, Arvind Limbavalli, Kumar Bangarappa and N.R. Santosh (who is a relative of Yediyurappa), among others.
The leaders made no attempts to hide the meeting and the media was given about five minutes of access to it, people aware of the developments said.
“MUDA (Mysuru Urban Development Authority) scam (against Siddaramaiah) is related to just one city, whereas the diversion of SC/ST funds and Rs 187 crore Valmiki Corporation are against the Dalit community and should be highlighted. It should not be a person-driven protest that is being undertaken (padayatra) to make him a leader. Ours is a pro-people’s struggle,” Yatnal can be heard saying in a video from the meeting.
The rebel leaders, who were noticeably absent from the Bengaluru-Mysuru padayatra, are now planning their own march to highlight the alleged corruption in the Valmiki development corporation.
Yatnal has also outrightly said Vijayendra cannot be accepted as the state president, especially since there had been allegations of corruption against him as well.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, state BJP president Vijayendra said, “As the state president, it is my primary duty to take everyone along and have consistently done this. Some of them want to undertake a padayatra and if it adds more power to the party and organisation, central leaders will approve this.”
Asked if he supported the rival march, he said: “I do not oppose it.” However, he added, the “intention” to benefit the party was a prerequisite.
The quiet uneasiness after Vijayendra was named the state president in October last year has spilt out into the open since the BJP lost power in the 2023 assembly elections and several sitting MPs were changed before the Lok Sabha elections. Yediyurappa loyalists, such as Shobha Karandlaje, his other son B. Y. Raghavendra, and Govind Karjol, were given tickets, but more importantly, those against the Lingayat strongman were denied tickets.
“There are nearly 20 factions within the BJP. One led by R. Ashok (leader of the opposition), another by B. S. Yediyurappa and his son, then Pralhad Joshi, (B.L.) Santosh, Ashwath Narayan, Yatnal & Jarkiholi, C.T.Ravi, and others,” M. B. Patil, cabinet minister and senior Congress leader told reporters.
While the BJP has tried to corner Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over alleged corruption in MUDA site allocations and diversion of funds from state-run Valimiki Corporation, its attacks have been blunted by the growing differences in the state party unit. Even the attempt to capitalise on internal differences between Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar resulted in the entire party rallying behind the CM.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)