Karnataka polls: BJP may drop 10-15% of current MLAs

As the Assembly polls in Karnataka inch closer, the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to drop over 10-15 per cent of its current legislators to take away the sting of rising anti-incumbency against the state government. BJP leaders said that the party is concerned about anti-incumbency, and keeping the caste equations in mind, some of the party’s 120 MLAs might not fight the elections this time.

The state unit of the party is carrying out multiple surveys across all the 224 seats in the state to find out the winnability of candidates, and some prominent faces could be skipped by the leadership, said those in the know. A leader, not wishing to be named, said that some of those dropped will be names that have been unpopular among voters.

“There are atleast half a dozen senior leaders who want a ticket for themselves and their kin, while there are some excellent candidates whose winnability is a matter of doubt,” said a prominent legislator of the party.

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Additionally, the party has given a target to all senior leaders to hold meetings in their respective regions with the district core committees as a feedback mechanism process. These meetings must end by March 25-26.

Party president J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah have been making several trips to the state recently. Shah has given the party’s leaders a target of winning more than 35 seats in the Old Mysore region, which has been the toughest for the BJP to crack. The party has not won more than 12-13 seats among the region’s 61 seats.

“He has been holding multiple meets with senior leaders, and with him cracking the whip, adjustment of ticket distribution will not happen,” said a party leader.

Nadda, to woo the Lingayats, which accounts for about 17-19 per cent of the state’s voters, has been meeting influential Lingayat mutts since December. However, a leader noted, Nadda has not taken along any of the party’s prominent Lingayat leaders, including Chief Minister Bommai.

The party is also worried about losing some of its sitting MLAs to the Congress, as reports suggested, and is keeping a close watch.

The party’s central leadership, which had sidestepped former CM B S Yedyurappa, has warmed up to him, with Prime Minister Modi giving equal visual footage to the former CM recently. Making him a member of the election management committee is one of the ways the party is warming up. Despite that, the party will bank on Modi’s popularity, which they said, is on an all-time high.