Bypoll: BSY marks his protest, keeps away

Bengaluru: Did two former Chief Ministers deliberately give the BJP core committee meeting on Monday evening, called to finalize party candidates for the bypolls to three Assembly constituencies, a miss?

Former Chief Ministers B.S.Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar did not attend the core committee meeting, so the party has called a second meeting  on January 21 to finalize the candidates.

Sources in the BJP told this newspaper that Mr Yeddyurappa wanted Suryakanta Nagamarapalli to be fielded from Bidar constituency, represented by his father and former minister Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli, a stanch follower of Yeddyurappa.

However the party wants to field former MLA Prakash Khandre with his candidature endorsed by senior leaders. In the absence of both Lingayat heavyweights from the core committee meeting, the party could not finalise candidates for Bidar, Devadurga and Hebbal.

Sources close to Yeddyurappa maintained that the party has not been considering his suggestions before taking decisions which was evident during the  selection of candidates for the MLC elections from local bodies constituencies recently.

“When the party is not taking him into confidence, what is the point in Yeddyurappa participating in the core committee meeting?”, a supporter of the former CM wondered.

“The BJP is tactfully ignoring BSY in the decision making process. By requesting him to participate in the core committee meetings, the party is compelling him to agree to the decisions taken. Realising this, the veteran leader is  not keen on  giving any suggestions or advice to the party leadership nowadays”, the supporter added.

With regard to the selection of candidate for Hebbal Assembly constituency, Yeddyurappa has suggested that the party leadership, before selecting the candidate,  should take into confidence former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu, since Hebbal is considered his bastion.