Stick for KS Eshwarappa, warning for BS Yeddyurappa soon?

Bengaluru: Will it be ‘some action’ against rebel leader K.S. Eshwarappa and a ‘warning’ for party state president B.S. Yeddyurappa, who have set the political stage in the state on fire with their verbal attacks on each other in the past few months?

This seems to be the strategy likely to be adopted by the BJP even as the RSS top brass stepped in to resolve the crisis after its senior pracharak B.L. Santhosh was dragged in by Yeddyurappa for instigating the revolt. A final decision will be taken after general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Muralidhar Rao submits his report on the dissent by Monday evening with Yeddyurappa asserting that the confusion will end in 3-4 days. “Since Santhosh is an important pracharak who is on the BJP’s payroll, the RSS top brass is expected to work out a solution within a week.

This will also set a precedent for organising secretaries working in other states. The RSS has lent pracharaks as organisers to the BJP and does not want a repeat of the sorry story in Karnataka elsewhere. The solution they work out will focus more on Santhosh,” sources explained, adding that steps would also be prescribed on how to handle Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa. One reason why the central leadership may step in is that Muralidhar Rao is much junior to both Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa, who are party seniors and political heavyweights. This could be why Rao could not handle the crisis on his own when he visited the state capital the weekend with Eshwarappa even refusing to meet him. Rao was only conveying what the high command had on its mind when he told the rebels that they would not be forgiven for participating in the activities of Sangolli Rayanna brigade, said sources.  Sources added while taking action against Eshwarappa, the party leadership is likely to advise Yeddyurappa to mend his ways and take decisions in consultation with other leaders. The cardinal point: Any important decision must be discussed in core committee or executive committee meetings by inviting all important leaders.

BSY: crisis will be resolved soon
Yeddyurappa, who is on a tour of Uttara Kannada district, told reporters that the party high command was seized of the crisis and was optimistic of resolving it soon.

In Shivamogga, sacked BJP MLC Bhanuprakash sarcastically thanked Yeddyurappa for giving him a ‘medal’ for serving the party selflessly for four decades. “I have been sacked from the post of party vice-president, post midnight. I am happy that they have not sent me to jail. Such harsh decisions were unwarranted when there is confusion in the party. I have no objection if Yeddyurappa wants to come back to power by sacrificing me,” he said. Meanwhile, sources close to Yeddyurappa said he would be in Shivamogga till Wednesday and would go to Delhi only if summoned by party bosses.

‘Santhosh used to interfere in govt affairs’
RSS pracharak and Bharatiya Janata Party joint organising secretary for south India B.L. Santhosh does not seem to be as innocent as many party workers have tried to portray him by claiming he was incapable of playing political games.

Santhosh, who was accused of instigating senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader K.S. Eshwarappa to raise the banner of revolt against Yeddyurappa, seems to have received a shock when BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa dropped his name before the media.

Many mid level officials in the revenue department told this newspaper that Santhosh would interfere in government affairs from a safe distance when the Bharatiya Janata Party was in power in the state from 2008-13.

“When D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar were chief ministers, he used to prepare the list of officials to be transferred in the revenue and transport departments. He virtually ruled the state and went to the extent of transferring brake inspectors in some cases,” an officer confided.

Santhosh operated in the same manner a professional politician did but made sure he did not leave a shred of evidence which could have nailed him, the officer added.