Shah seeks report from state BJP on poor turnout at yatra launch

A day after the state BJP was left red-faced due to the poor turnout at the launch of its Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivarthana Yatra, the party has started deciphering reasons for the flop show.

The party had expected three lakh workers to attend the launch of the Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivarthana Yatra at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) but only a small percentage of that number actually turned up at the venue.

According to BJP sources, the central leadership has expressed its displeasure to the state unit for embarrassing party national president Amit Shah, who had to launch the yatra in front of scores of empty chairs.

Shah, it is learnt, has now sought a report through BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao on what went wrong. Soon after he arrived at the venue on Thursday, Shah himself had taken a few leaders on the dais, including party state president B S Yeddyurappa, to task for the poor show.

Poor planning and organisation, bad choice of venue and lack of enthusiasm and involvement on the part of leaders from Bengaluru city have been assessed as the primary reasons for the poor turn out. A party functionary said BIEC was a bad choice for holding the convention. BIEC is located 15 kms from the city centre and, Palace Grounds or National College Grounds could have been more convenient venue.

The party had directed its workers to arrive at the venue on bikes. Many did arrive on bikes, but stayed on at the parking lot as they did not want to part with their vehicle for the fear that it might be stolen.

The 100 BJP corporators, 11 MLAs and three MPs from Bengaluru have also been blamed for the yatra launch debacle for not making efforts to mobilise sufficient crowd at the venue. There is a feeling in the party that the three MPs from Bengaluru, Union Ministers Ananth Kumar (Bangalore South) and D V Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North) and P C Mohan should (Bangalore Central) have done much more in ensuring the success of the yatra launch.
The central leadership has directed the state unit to be vigilant and put in more efforts during the remaining course of the 75-day yatra.