BS Yeddyurappa and KS Eshwarappa rift will not hit Srinivas Prasad

Bengaluru: The ongoing tussle between two top leaders of BJP seems unlikely to mar the prospects of former revenue minister V Srinivas Prasad, who has announced his decision to contest the by-poll from Nanjangud Assembly constituency, as he holds sway over voters of this constituency.

"Bickering between state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa and leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa is temporary as it will be resolved soon with an intervention by national BJP leaders.  Their fight is not going to affect the prospects of Mr Srinivasa Prasad", says Mr K R Mohan Kumar, former chairman of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and a supporter of the former minister.

He said Mr Prasad had a strangle hold over the constituency and his victory was certain due to his close contact with voters. Given his stature, the political party does not matter as he had been attached with the constituency for over two decades. Mr Prasad won as an independent candidate by a margin of over 1000 votes in previous elections. This was enough to prove how powerful he had been in this seat, he added.

Of the total two lakh voters, there are around 50,000 Lingayat voters followed by Dalits at around 47,000 voters. Even Nayak, Kuruba and Uppar communities have around 50,000 votes. Since the beginning, Mr Prasad had a firm grip on Dalit voters and with him set to contest on a BJP ticket, there could be no doubt of securing the Lingayat votes. Moreover, the standoff  between Mr Yeddyurappa and Mr Eshwarappa was not new as they had been at loggerheads on many issues but  had reunited when it comes to party issue.

"Even we wish the issue to be sorted out at the earliest so that all BJP leaders could unitedly campaign for Mr Prasad," he added.

Commenting on Mr Yeddyurappa and Mr Eshwarappa crossing swords, Mr Prasad had recently said fighting was common in all parties that believed in democracy. While this issue came to the fore, there was internal bickering in the Congress  which would surface on the eve of Assembly polls in 2018, he added.

2nd rung BJP leaders give BSY list of demands   
Disgruntled second rung leaders of BJP, who met at former minister Sogadu Shivanna's residence in Bengaluru on Wednesday, reportedly decided to submit their demands to state unit president  B.S. Yeddyurappa during a  meeting called by the former chief minister to redress their grievances here on Thursday. These leaders decided to demand revocation of suspension of many leaders including Mr Shivanna and Mr Nandish. The leaders felt that loyalty of Mr Shivanna and Mr Nandish was indisputable and therefore their  suspension would send a wrong message to the party cadre. The leaders also put forth a demand to replace office bearers and various district units as those belonging to erstwhile KJP were accommodated, leaving loyal BJP workers out.