Tickets to sitting MPs: BS Yeddyurappa faces party core panel’s wrath

Bengaluru: A majority of the BJP's core committee members spoke out against giving tickets to a few sitting MPs from the state, whose performance has not been satisfactory and are unpopular with the party workers in their Lok Sabha constituencies at a meeting on Sunday, according to party sources.

BJP state president, B.S. Yeddyurappa reportedly faced stiff opposition from the members to giving tickets once again to Uttara Kannada MP, Ananthkumar Hegde, Udupi-Chikamagaluru MP, Shobha Karandlaje, Koppal MP, Karadi Sanganna and Belagavi MP, Suresh Angadi, considering their “under performance, controversial remarks and poor rapport with party workers.”

Said one senior core committee member when contacted, “When Mr. Yeddyurappa suggested giving tickets to all the sitting MPs, many of the core committee members objected. Mr Ananthkumar Hegde's remarks have embarrassed the BJP on many occasions, especially his support for changing the Constitution, which has not gone down well with the OBCs and scheduled castes and tribes. The party must reconsider his candidature this time.”

Core committee members like Jagadish Shettar, R. Ashok, C.T.Ravi, K.S. Eshwarappa, S. Santhosh. Arunkumar and D.V. Sadananda Gowda were reportedly against giving a ticket to Ms Karandlaje. Going by sources, Mr. Ravi suggested the party consider survey reports of the constituency done through the NaMo app before finalising a candidate for Udupi-Chikamagaluru. And Mr. Ashok suggested fielding senior leader, K. Jayaprakash Hegde from the constituency instead, sources reveal.

But Mr. Yeddyurappa is said to have argued that when the party had decided to field Mr Nalin Kumar Kateel, a Bunt, from Dakshina Kannada, it could not give a ticket to Mr Jayapraskash Hegde , who belonged to the same community, in Udupi-Chikamagaluru.

But picking holes in this logic, Mr Shettar reportedly asked how the party could field Ms Karandlaje, a Vokkaliga, from Udupi-Chikmagaluru when it had already decided to field a Vokkaliga in neighbouring Hassan. Bowing to popular opinion, Mr. Yeddyurappa was forced to add Mr. Jayaprakash Hegde to the list of probable candidates, according to sources.