BJP discusses poll preparations at marathon meet

The BJP on Monday held a day-long meeting to discuss the preparations for the ensuing Assembly elections and also the impact of the resignations of 12 of its MLAs, owing allegiance to B S Yeddyurappa, on the party.

The BJP had packed the day with meeting of its office-bearers and district presidents and a special meeting in the evening attended by ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, chairpersons of various boards and corporations, presidents and vice-presidents of zilla panchayats, heads of urban development authorities and cooperative federations among others.

According to party sources, the exit of these MLAs is likely to impact the party’s vote share anywhere between 10 per cent to 20 per cent in constituencies previously represented by them. The party has started analysing the voting pattern in these constituencies and plan election strategies accordingly.

District presidents submitted reports on the political scene in their respective jurisdictions to party State president K S Eshwarappa and national general secretary Ananth Kumar, the sources added.

In all, 14 BJP legislators including former ministers  Shobha Karandlaje and C M Udasi had submitted their resignations to Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah, of which 12 have been accepted so far.

‘No more resignations’

Going by the speeches of its leaders, the party apparently wants to send a message to its cadre that it had put the resignation episode behind and wants to move forward. The meetings were timed to be held on the opening day of the budget session of the Legislature.

Speaking at the party meeting in the evening, Eshwarappa said the exit of the 12 MLAs will have no repercussion on the party. “It is for the good. There will be no more confusion in the party,” Eshwarappa said and expressed confidence that there would be no more resignations.

He said that the party had always depended on its organisational strength and not that of individuals. The party would win 130 seats in the Assembly polls by taking to the people the achievements of the State government, he claimed.

Former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda said the party had to face embarrassing situations as it had failed to identify and remove  “black sheep” in the party.

“Those who tried to create confusion and hurdles to the party have now lost their strength. The exit of opportunists has cleansed the party”, Gowda said.