Bengaluru: The agitation in the BJP over the party’s decision against fielding state BJP chief, B S Yeddyurappa’s son, B Y Vijayendra from Varuna constituency, died down after national BJP chief , Amit Shah reportedly put his foot down and made it clear that it had made no commitment to making its Chief Ministerial candidate’s son an MLA.
As Mr Shah refused to bend under pressure , BJP candidates of 11 other assembly constituencies in Mysuru , who had threatened to withdraw in support of Mr Vijayendra, did a U-turn and backed the party decision. Mysuru-Kodagu MP, Pratap Simha and former Minister, S A Ramadasa who initially threw their weight behind Mr Vijayendra, also retreated in silence after Mr Shah asked them “not to poke their nose” in the affair.
Although most had expected Mr Shah to succumb to pressure and clear Mr Vijayendra's name for Varuna, his candidature was turned down after he held talks with Union Minister, Prakash Jawedkar and BJP national secretary in- charge of Karnataka affairs, Muralidhar Rao . Mr Shah was reportedly angry over the big drama created over the Varuna ticket and wanted to know who was behind it. Going by sources close to Mr Yeddyurappa, he asked if there was any precedent of giving a ticket to the son or daughter of a Chief ministerial candidate in any state and is said to have pointed out that the party high command had taken the responsibility of making Mr Yeddyurappa the Chief Minister but not of making Mr Vijayendra an MLA from Varuna constituency. Besides, he wanted to know who had asked Mr Vijayendra to start a campaign without his name being cleared by the party high command.
But Mr Shah reportedly assured that the Central leadership would make use of Mr Vijayendra's services at the right time. His stand is said to have come as a surprise to Mr Yeddyurappa, who had expected his son's name to be cleared with ease by the party high command.
On Tuesday morning, the party decided to field Mr Thotadappa Basavaraj in place of Mr Vijayendra in Varuna and Mr Yeddyurappa told reporters that his son would actively campaign for the BJP in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts.
