The worst fear that is haunting the dissidents in the run up to the elections, is that Yeddyurappa may deny the party tickets to followers of Ananth Kumar.  Eventually, Ananth Kumar might lose his hold on the State party affairs, the party insiders said.

Ever since the JD(S) betrayed the BJP on the power transfer, Yeddyurappa has almost emerged as an undisputed leader in the State party. He has taken complete control of the party affairs and has been taking unilateral decisions, sources added.

This has not only irked the Ananth camp but became a cause for great concern. “If Yeddyurappa is not checked now, he can go to the extent of denying tickets to Ananth’s followers. Modi in Gujarat did the same thing by denying tickets to over 40 sitting MLAs,” one of the dissident leaders admitted.

And the dissident camp seems to be unrelenting. Hence, all five dissident leaders -- D H Shankara Murthy, K S Eshwarappa, Jagadish Shettar, Aravind Limbavali and Ananth Kumar -- kept themselves off the party core committee meeting convened by its national leader Yeshwanth Sinha, who is also in-charge of Karnataka affairs, in Bangalore on Friday.

No importance
But the leaders who are with Yeddyurappa said that dissidents have no importance in the party which is on a high after Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh victory.

“The party has long ago accepted Yeddyurappa’s leadership in the State and there is no need for going to elections under collective leadership,” the leaders said.

As for changing the State President, Yeddyurappa followers, said that “D V Sadananda Gowda has been elected for the post for three years. He is not a nominated president to ask him to step down abruptly. Moreover, he is doing well in strengthening the party,”, they added.

When contacted, Eshwarappa denied that there is any differences within the party and said “The question of collective leadership for the elections does not arise. Yeddyurappa is our leader and we will face the elections in his leadership.”

Poll committee
Meanwhile, the State BJP has, constituted a 15-member Election Committee on Saturday. The members are: Sadananda Gowda, Ananth Kumar, B S Yeddyurappa, Shankara Murthy, K S Eshwarappa, Jagadish Shettar, Govind Karjola, R Ashok, C M Udasi, Katta Subramanya Naidu, Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri, S Suresh Kumar, Shobha Karandlaje, Shashil Namoshi, Santhosh, sources said. 

Demands
*Ananth Kumar wants to clip Yeddy’s wings
* Ananth fears that ‘all-powerful’ Yeddy may deny tickets to his followers 
* Demands ouster of State party President Sadananda Gowda
* Demands that elections should be faced under collective leadership