Ashoka too in race for BJP chief's post

Sangh leaders, party workers were unhappy with Eshwarappa

With K S Eshwarappa quitting as the State BJP President ahead of the crucial Assembly polls, the Sangh Parivar may push for a leader with a strong RSS background to hold the reins of the party in the State.

Sangh leaders in the State may exert pressure on the BJP central leadership to pick a leader who could motivate the party workers during the polls, which are likely to be held in May. The party national general secretary Arun Jaitely is arriving in Bangalore on Friday evening to initiate the process of selecting the state president.

Former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Mangalore MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi and Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka are said to be in the race for the post. Though all these leaders have the Sangh background, Kateel and Joshi are said to be closer to the influential RSS leaders in the State. Gowda and Ashoka have been lobbying hard to get the post. Gowda had even met the national leaders in Delhi recently.

Jaitely, BJP sources said, will elicit the opinion of the State leaders on who should be the new president. He may also attend the State BJP  core committee meeting and report the opinion of the state leaders to the national president Rajnath Singh, who may announce the name of new president.

The party insiders said the Sangh leaders in the State were not happy with Eshwarappa’s style of functioning.

They are of the view that he did little to revive the dented image of the party, whose government was rocked by a series of scams and scandals in the last five years.

Loyal party workers had reportedly lodged complaints against Eshwarappa and demanded that he should be removed from the post before the polls are announced.

Eshwarappa, when contacted by Deccan Herald, said that he was “supremely happy” about his performance as the president. After quitting, the responsibility would be much higher as strengthening the hands of the new president would be the responsibility of seniors like him, he added.

Asked why he could not instil any discipline or take any action against those who rebelled against the party, he said, “If I had taken stringent action, then the BJP would not have continued in power. I took action when it was required, to send a strong message to the betrayers but treaded a cautious path when I had to.”

Asked whether he relinquished the post fearing the party’s poor performance in the civic body polls and the ensuing Assembly elections, Eshwarappa said, “I have no such fear. Nobody asked me to quit. The party goes by one-man-one-post principle. Due to various reasons, I had to continue as the president despite being in the state cabinet.”