Bengaluru: As state BJP bigwigs sat down on Thursday to identify the reasons for the party's debacle in the Ballari Lok Sabha bypoll, fingers were pointed at former ministers V. Somanna and Gali Janardhan Reddy with party leaders asserting that their statements in the course of the campaign had cost the party dear.
The introspection happened at a meeting of the party's core committee and legislature party with leaders expressing serious displeasure over the manner in which the election strategy was handled in Ballari and Ramanagara too where the party candidate lost.
Mr Somanna during the election campaign had said that former Ballari MP and Nayaka community leader B. Sriramulu would become CM which many BJP leaders felt, alienated Lingayat voters from the party, which has till now projected Lingayat veteran B.S. Yeddyurappa as its mascot.
Mr Janardhan Reddy on his part made a nasty comment against former CM, Siddaramaiah saying that his 'sins' had cost him the life of his son Rakesh who had died a couple of years ago. These two statements were exploited by the Congress party and its Ballari candidate V.S. Ugrappa to turn the tide against the BJP which had been winning Ballari regularly for several years.
In Ramanagara, leaders felt the party messed up during candidate selection and lost the election even before polling. However, while briefing the media after the meeting, party general secretary, Aravind Limbavali did not disclose any of these details and only said that the party debated the recent by-poll results.
Party state president B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters that five teams would be constituted to study the severity of the drought. He also announced that a big rally would be held on December 10 at Belagavi in front of Suvarna Soudha on the day the winter session of the Legislature begins.
The drought teams would be led by R. Ashok, K.S. Eshwarappa, Jagadish Shettar, Srinivas Poojary and Union minister Ramesh Jigajinagi.
