Bengaluru: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Mahila Morcha national president Daggubati Purandeswari, an invitee to the BJP’s two-day State executive committee meeting on May 6 and 7 in Mysuru may hold the fate of the Karnataka unit of the BJP in her hands.
As the divide between the party’s state president B.S. Yeddyurappa and the Opposition leader in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa widened despite efforts to patch up by the BJP top bosses, party insiders have now chosen to get the Andhra politician to appeal to BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje, who could be one of the triggers for the difference of opinion, to back down and restore peace in the state BJP, party sources told Deccan Chronicle.
Ms Purandeswari, who is scheduled to arrive in Bengaluru on Friday evening enroute to Mysuru is likely to meet the Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, who is going to offer prayers at Tirupati on Friday early morning.
“After the darshan at Tirupati, Gadkari will request Purandeswari to engage Shobha Karandlaje so that the differences between Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa can be resolved. The BJP national president Amit Shah has taken a serious view of the escalating tension between the two leaders and has warned that the party will not allow any indiscipline or rebellion and has ordered a gag order on the leaders from speaking about the turmoil in public,” he added.
BJP national general secretary and party in-charge of Karnataka Muralidhar Rao in his report to Amit Shah on the dissension in the BJP's ranks in Karnataka had blamed both leaders while also naming Ms Karandlaje's role in decision-making for being partly responsible for the continued infighting within the party.
"The resentment in Karnataka BJP is brewing over Yeddyurappa taking unilateral decisions while ignoring the interests of the old party workers and loyalists.”
“His decisions are said to be subject to Shobha’s views,” the letter reportedly stated.
The sources added that while Yeddyurappa has been assured that he would be Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief minister candidate for the 2018 Assembly elections by Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is also aware that he will have only one year tenure as the Chief Minister, because of the 75 years age ceiling put in place by Mr. Modi, who in May 2014 had introduced a rule that party leaders above 75 years should not hold any administrative post in Central or State governments.
The question of who will succeed Yeddyurappa in the event that he steps down after a year is the subject of much speculation, the sources added. Given their growing differences, the BJP top bosses is also concerned that as state party president B.S.Yedyurappa could make the case for Mr Eshwarappa to be expelled if he goes ahead with the Sangolli Rayanna Brigade’s convention in Raichur on May 7 and 8. These sources said that Muralidhar Rao's confidential report also warns of BSY's unpredictability and penchant for taking drastic decisions such as quitting the party if the role of close aides like Ms Karandlaje and others are questioned.
