Poll: BSY absence may hit BJP in H-K
For the first time since the BJP government came to power four years ago the party is going to polls without its star campaigner and former Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region The BJP, which has won four elections consecutively from the North East Graduates’ constituency, is doing everything it can to retain the seat but the absence of the powerful Lingayat leader may work against it this time.
Mr Yeddyurappa had special regard for Gulbarga district which he visited 42 times during his three-and-a-half year tenure as chief minister, something which even former chief ministers, Veerendra Patil and Dharam Singh, who hailed from the region, did not do. The popularity Mr Yeddyurappa enjoys in the district was evident from the all out support he got from the legislators and chairmen of the boards and corporations here during his recent battle to regain his lost gaddi . Although some loyalists of Mr Yeddyurappa from the district like animal husbandry minister, Revu Naik Belamagi and MLC Sashil Namoshi took part in the campaign on Monday led by Chief Minister D.V. Sadanand Gowda and party general secretary, Ananthkumar, district- in -charge minister, Basavaraj Bommai, was conspicuous by his absence.
While Mr Gowda and Mr Ananthkumar spoke at length about the state's performance under their government, they were careful not to give credit for any of it to the former chief minister, who, sources say, has decided to stay away from the campaigning in the constituency. Moreover, the infighting in the BJP appears to have affected the morale of BJP workers here. “Recent developments in the state including the way Mr Yeddyurappa has been treated and Mr Sadananda Gowda's claim that he was gifted the Chief Minister’s post as he belonged to the Vokkaliga community is unlikely to go down well with the voters. Although it is difficult to say whether this will benefit the Congress or the JDS, it is clear that BJP candidate, Amaranth Patil has a fight on his hands," say observers.
The fact that Dharwad Lok Sabha member, Prahlad Joshi has been put in charge of the NE Graduates’ constituency instead of Mr Basavaraj Bommai is also being seen as another move by the party to sideline the Yeddyurappa camp. Meanwhile, Mr Ananthkumar’s prediction that the next NDA government at the Centre would be formed under the leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee surprised many as he has made no secret of his loyalty to Mr L K Advani, Addressing a BJP workers meeting here on Monday, Mr Ananthkumar, said the UPA government had suferred several setbacks recently and “the next government at the Centre will be formed by Mr Vajpayee”. Some believe his statement could have something to do with the intense ongoing power struggle in the BJP.
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