RAICHUR: Will the abstention of prominent leaders of BJP from the Deodurga Assembly bypoll campaign affect the prospects of its candidate Shivangowda Naik?
In a by-election, it’s common for top leaders to flock to the constituency to woo voters. But prominent leaders of BJP such as state president Pralhad Joshi, senior leaders B.S. Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and K.S. Eshwarappa turned up at Deodurga only on the day of filing nominations and later kept away from the constituency not attending even a single meeting in the taluk. The party had given the entire responsibility of managing the campaign to state vice-president V. Somanna. Mr Somanna camped in Raichur for about 13 days and coordinated the campaign. Except for Ballari MP B. Sriramulu and Union Minister Ananth Kumar, who addressed a couple of public meetings on the last day of campaigning, no senior leader from the party was seen canvassing for the party candidate.
The soured relationship between Mr Yeddyurappa and Mr Shivangowda Naik is said to be the reason for the absence of most top leaders of BJP. "Mr Shivangowda had used foul language against Mr Yeddyurappa after switching over to the Reddy camp during the power struggle in BJP and became persona non-grata for most leaders. So they have deliberately abstained from the campaign while working for party candidates in Bidar and Hebbal,” the sources added. According to sources, Mr Yeddyurappa was requested to address a couple of meetings and had agreed to visit Deodurga on Thursday. “But he skipped the programme on the ground that he had to attend poll related meetings in Shivamogga district,” the sources added.
“There is no doubt that if Mr Yeddyurappa had devoted his time to the campaign, it would have made a big impact on voters of the dominant Lingayat community as he is regarded the top community leader,” a source summed up.
