Published Nov 12, 2022 | 12:19 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 04, 2023 | 9:13 PM
Former Karnataka chief minister and BJP's Central Parliamentary Board member BS Yeddiyurappa. (BSY/Facebook)
Elections are barely months away in Karnataka, and the BJP wants some large-scale changes. Following the party’s decision to drop some 38 sitting MLAs from its first list of candidates in Gujarat, it seems the BJP wants its leaders in Karnataka to also take the cue.
Senior leaders in the Gujarat unit of the BJP — like former chief minister Vijay Rupani, and Nitin Patel, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, and Pradipsinh Jadeja — have declared that they won’t contest the upcoming Assembly elections.
The jury is still out on whether it was a decision derived out of choice or to prevent embarrassment when the party finally drops their names from its list of candidates.
However, a similar situation could come knocking on the doors of Karnataka BJP leaders. Given the anti-incumbency against the BJP in Karnataka, the party is looking to drop some 35-45 percent of the sitting MLAs — especially legislators who have been elected more than five times.
The BJP is hoping seniors like BS Yediyurappa, KS Eshwarappa, Jagadish Shettar, and Suresh Kumar will voluntarily give up tickets to “make way for new blood”.
That way the party perhaps hopes to bring second-rung leaders to the forefront and also place the blame of incompetence on the “grandees”.
