BJP keeping vigil on MP Bachegowda's moves: R Ashoka

A day after the BJP expelled its Hoskote rebel Sharath Bachegowda, the BJP's national leadership is keeping an eye on the activities of his father, Chikballapur MP, B N Bachegowda, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said Friday.

Speaking to reporters in the city on Friday, Ashoka said the national leadership was closely watching the words of the MP, apart from keeping a track on who he was interacting with.

Ashoka's statement came in the wake of Bachegowda's son Sharath defying the party's diktat and contesting the bypoll as an independent from Hoskote.

"MTB Nagaraj helped the BJP form government in Karnataka by walking out of the coalition government. It is not right to stab him in the back. The party has already taken action against those who have been disloyal. It will take action against Bachegowda, too, if he turns out to be working with vested interests," Ashoka said.

The minister also took a dig at both the JD(S) and the Congress, saying the parties which sought to form a coalition, fought bitterly and walked out on each other within months of forming the government. "It now seems that they have an internal agreement with each other," he added.

He also launched an attack on the JD(S) asking the party's leadership to wrap up the show. "The JD(S) keeps fluctuating between wanting to support the BJP on one day and the Congress on another. Sometimes, it wants to distance itself from both parties. The party is confusing people. I think it's time to shut the party," he said.