Yeddyurappa effect: BJP to strengthen its cadre

The BJP will hold a series of district and assembly-level conventions in December to refurbish its cadre strength following the exit of B S Yeddyurappa from the party.

A BJP functionary, who did not want  to be named, said the priority would be to retain its huge cadre base by building confidence among workers that Yeddyurappa’s exit will not make a big impact on the party. Conventions of all the morchas will be also held soon after the legislature session next month.

The party has been chalking out its strategies to face the next assembly polls, sans the leadership of Yeddyurappa, for the last few weeks now after the former chief minister made it clear that he was quitting the BJP and floating a new political party.

Secondly, the BJP has roped in RSS leaders to convince party legislators that they tend to lose out in their political career if they quit the party. A team in the party has started to make constituency-wise assessments of the party’s prospects in the next assembly polls, BJP sources said.

However, Karnataka Janata Party President Dhananjay Kumar said the BJP will receive a severe drubbing in the elections due to the Yeddyurappa factor.

“The betrayal of Yeddyurappa by the BJP will not be forgiven by the people. There will be a huge anti-BJP wave during the election,” he said.

BJP General Secretary Raghunath Malkapure said the party had tried its best to retain Yeddyurappa. “But he went ahead and quit the party,” he said.