Party insiders allege that a certain faction of the Karnataka BJP may be working against the candidates in five of the 15 segments.
A game of one-upmanship is underway in the BJP’s Karnataka unit ahead of the bye-elections. Disqualified Congress and JD(S) MLAs, who are contesting on a BJP ticket, are not only fighting the opposition but also allegedly those within the ruling party. Party insiders allege that a certain faction of the Karnataka BJP may be working against the candidates in five of the 15 segments as they were not happy about the decision to offer tickets to the disqualified MLAs. The rebellion is an open one in Hoskote, where BJP MP from Chikkaballapura – Bache Gowda’s son – Sharath Bachegowda, defied the party decision and filed his nomination papers as an independent. Sharath was unhappy about the BJP offering the ticket to former Congress MLA from the segment, MTB Nagaraj. Although the party expelled Sharath earlier in November for anti-party activities, sources in the BJP’s Hoskote unit allege that a faction of the BJP, who are loyal to him, are unhappy about the party’s move. BJP insiders claim that Sharath’s followers within the party are actively working against MTB Nagaraj as the two candidates have been arch rivals in the region for over a decade. MTB Nagaraj and Sharath’s father – Bache Gowda have a long-standing rivalry as the two have been in opposing political parties for over a decade. Nagaraju has also defeated Bache Gowda senior in the 2013 and 2018 Karnataka Assembly Elections from Hoskote. “MTB Nagaraj’s base was the Congress. Now that he has shifted to the BJP, he is banking on the fact that people will vote for him and not the party he is contesting from. He has a lot of clout in the region and hence Sharath Bachegowda’s team is trying to undercut him not only from outside but from within the party as well,” the source alleges. In Chikkaballapura, former Siddaramaiah loyalist – Dr K Sudhakar too is facing a similar predicament. With former Water Resource Minister and Vokkaliga strongman DK Shivakumar campaigning for the Congress candidate M Anjappa, sources in the BJP say that the party is struggling to win in the segment, which it has never won. The Chikkaballapura segment has always elected a Congress or a Janata Party (now JD(S)) candidate and the BJP had hoped to make forays into the region by putting up disqualified MLA Sudhakar as the party’s face. However, sources allege that Sharath Bachegowda’s supporters are trying to sabotage Sudhakar’s chances of winning too as well by offering their support to Anjanappa. Another segment worrying rebel leaders is Athani, sources say, where Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi has turned sour for not bagging the ticket to contest elections. Savadi was hoping to get the ticket and ensure that disqualified MLA from the region, Mahesh Kumatahalli would be made an MLC. However, Kumatahalli’s nomination has allegedly been a bitter pill for Savadi to swallow and party insiders claim that his supporters within the party, despite being given strict orders, are working against Kumatahalli in the region. “Savadi was the candidate that BL Santhosh (BJP national General Secretary) wanted the high command to pick. His rivalry with BS Yediyurappa is one of the reasons why the opinions of party workers in Athani have been divided too. It’s not just Savadi but also former BJP leader Raju Kage (now Congress candidate from Athani) and his supporters within the party who are helping him with the elections,” a BJP leader alleges. BJP insiders say that the state leaders and the high command have warned leaders and party workers about stringent action against internal rebellions. Although the supporters of these discontented leaders seem to be working for the party, the situation in these segments are somewhat similar to what happened in Mandya when Congress party workers worked against the coalition candidate and then CM HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil, choosing to support independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, who ended up winning. “The state intelligence survey has also shown that the BJP may fall back in at least five segments. The fact that BJP party workers are working against party candidates is also a factor to this,” the source says. The BJP currently has 105 MLAs and the support of one independent. The party needs 7 more seats to gain a simple majority and continue in power.
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