Fight Congress, not your colleagues: Arun Jaitley to Karnataka BJP

Bengaluru: With a section of BJP leaders making no bones about its unhappiness with state BJP chief,  B.S.Yeddyurappa, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Arun Jaitley is reported to have pulled up senior and lower rung leaders for  their lack of unity and strongly advised them to close ranks in the interest of the party.    

Mr  Jaitley, who was in the city last week, is said to have made his observations during his brief interaction with party leaders on the sidelines of  the KLE Law College inauguration function Saturday. Those who met him included Mr Yeddyurappa, and senior leaders, Ananth Kumar, R. Ashok and V. Somanna, according to party sources.

Taking stock of the situation in the state, Mr Jaitley reportedly advised  the BJP leaders against airing their differences in public and suggested they discuss them instead in party platforms.  The minister is also said to  have  advised  the state BJP leadership to reach out to people from all sections of society to widen the appeal of the party and provide opportunity to all communities when appointing office bearers at different levels of the organisation to help it enjoy better rapport with the masses and encourage other party workers to join it.

Meanwhile,  dissenting voices in the state BJP have  now decided to wait and watch developments within the party, according to sources. Having been told not to hold any more meetings after they complained about Mr Yeddyurappa’s style of functioning to the party’s central leadership, these  leaders have decided to lie low for the time being, sources reveal.  

These leaders who include Opposition leader in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa. were upset over the appointment of district office bearers and claimed that most of these posts had been grabbed by leaders of the erstwhile KJP-the party founded by Mr Yeddyurappa after he split away from the BJP prior to the 2013 Assembly polls.