State BJP told not to announce candidates during yatra

The BJP central leadership has told the state unit of the party not to announce its candidates for the 2018 assembly polls during the course of the Navakarnataka Nirmana Parivartana Yatra.

There has been discontent in a section of the state unit after party president B S Yeddyurappa announced at Turuvekere in Tumkuru district last week that Masala Jayaram will be the party's official candidate for the next year's election from the Turuvekere constituency. Actor-turned-politician Jaggesh, a former legislator from Turuvekere, also endorsed Yeddyurappa's view and urged the voters to vote for Jayaram.

Jayaram had contested unsuccessfully from Yeddyurappa's erstwhile KJP during the 2013 polls. At present, the seat is held by the JD(S).

Later at a public convention during the yatra in Tiptur, Yeddyurappa announced that former MLA B C Nagesh will be the party's official candidate from the constituency.

The announcements have not gone done well with a section in the party. They have blamed Yeddyurappa of taking unilateral decisions. Their contention is that party national president Amit Shah had announced that candidates will be announced only after conducting three rounds of surveys and in consultation with the RSS.

The central leadership has now conveyed to the state unit, especially Yeddyurappa, to utilise the yatra only as a platform to "gauge" and "assess" the commitment of assembly ticket aspirants of the party.

The involvement and contribution of the aspirants in organising the logistics of the yatra as it enters different constituencies is to be monitored. But the candidates should not be announced, the central leadership has told the state unit.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who recently was appointed as election in-charge of Karnataka, has summoned the party MPs, MLAs and corporators from Bengaluru to the party office on Wednesday to seek an explanation from them on the poor turnout at the launch of the yatra last week.

Javadekar will later report to Shah, who has sought a report on the issue.