BJP may make its 'master strategist' Bhupendra Yadhav K'taka poll incharge

He is likely to camp in state from first week of January

The BJP is likely to appoint party national general secretary and election strategist Bhupender Yadav as incharge of Karnataka election incharge.

A close confidant of BJP national president Amit Shah, Yadav was party incharge of the recently held Assembly elections in Gujarat where BJP retained power despite anti-incumbency factor. He was also election incharge for Rajasthan in 2013, Jharkhand in 2014 and Bihar in 2015. He is know for his ability to read the pulse of people in the poll-bound state and drawing up appropriate strategies to woo the electorate, sources in the state BJP said.

Shah, who took stock of the political situation in the state during this three-day visit to Bengaluru in September this year, had appointed Javadekar and Goyal incharge of Karnataka election. But, they had been finding it difficult to spend much time in Karnataka as they are holding important portfolios – the Human Resource Development and the Railways respectively, the sources said.

Moreover, the ruling Congress has already started an aggressive campaign in order to retain power in Karnataka. There is no clarity in the state BJP on countering the ruling party on politically sensitive issues such as separate religion tag for Lingayat faith, Kannada pride and the Mahadayi river water disputes. Hence, the party leadership is considering sending Yadav to the state, the sources pointed out.

Yadav, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan, is likely to arrive in Karnataka in the first week of next month and will be camping in Bengaluru till the elections are over. Karnataka is considered as the gateway to south India for the BJP. So, the coming Karnataka Assembly elections are a must-win battle for the saffron party, the sources said.