Karnataka: Rebellion annoys BJP bosses in Delhi

Bengaluru: Annoyed  and surprised by the sudden rebellion in the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party,  the saffron party’s national leadership is trying to establish who is instigating it, according to sources close to Karnataka unit chief B S Yeddyurappa.

The party’s national leaders are reportedly  unhappy with the meeting convened by the rebels in Bengaluru on April 27 as Karnataka’s affairs had been discussed in detail at the recent national committee meeting in Odisha. They believe the rebels would not have dared to challenge the party high command without some behind the scenes provocation.

“The process of identifying the leaders provoking the rebellion has started,”sources added.

“When the state unit had fixed April 23 for holding an introspection and discuss what went wrong in the Nanjangud and Gundlupet bypolls,   the rebel leaders have preferred to hold a BJP Bachao meet of their own on April 27 , much against the wishes of the party bosses,” they noted.

The national leaders reportedly seem to think that somebody is firing over the shoulders of senior leader,  K S Eshwarappa at Mr Yeddyurappa and a few state leaders are blindly following him, when this could upset the plans of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah to dislodge the Congress government in the state  

“ The disgruntled leaders  should have met Mr Muralidhar Rao, who is in charge of Karnataka affairs before airing their views in public. By doing this they are not only risking their political careers, but also impacting the party’s prospects in the coming.elections. This kind of indiscipline by senior leaders will not be tolerated and they will have to pay a heavy price in the coming days,” warned party insiders.

While Mr Yeddurappa is believed to have consulted Delhi leaders on  taking  disciplinary action against those likely to participate in the April 27 meeting, he has been advised  to adopt a wait and watch policy as any drastic step such as slapping  show cause notice could affect the party’s prospects in 2018.  

The rebellion is expected to cast a shadow over the party ‘s Sunday meeting in Bengaluru.  

Although notices have been sent to all leaders concerned to attend it,  it remains to be seen how many will actually  turn up for it.