BSY earns state BJP leaders' wrath over appointments

Eshwarappa charges former CM with taking unilateral decisions

The appointment of new party office bearers and district unit presidents by state BJP president B S Yeddyurappa has not gone down well with state party leaders.

Senior party leader and opposition leader in the Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa openly expressed reservations on the appointments and charged Yeddyurappa with taking unilateral decisions. “The appointments were made without following proper procedures. So, many party leaders are upset. The issue will be taken up with senior leaders,” he told this paper.

“Appointments of district presidents and office bearers have to be discussed in the core committee meeting. But it was done without consulting anybody. We were all happy when the party made Yeddyurappa the state president. But many loyal party leaders and workers are now feeling let down because of the way the appointments have been done,” he added.

Sources in the party said Yeddyurappa has given priority to those who stood by him when he quit the party and floated the KJP a few years ago, while appointing the officer bearers and district presidents.

Loyal party leaders who did not help him in his KJP days, were sidelined in almost all districts. Except for leaders like S Suresh Kumar and C T Ravi, almost all the new state officer bearers are Yeddyurappa loyalists.

For instance, Yeddyurappa has appointed Rudre Gowda as the new Shivamogga district unit president. Gowda had contested against Eshwarappa from Shivamogga as the KJP candidate in the 2013 Assembly polls.

Besides, Yeddyurappa’s personal secretary since 1983, Gurumurthy and D H Shankarmurthy’s son Arun, have been made district general secretaries. This has irked many party loyalists in Shivamogga, sources said.

The leaders are also fed up with the interference by former minister and Yeddyurappa’s close aide Shobha Karandlaje in party affairs.