Buzz in Karnataka BJP on Gujarat-like move on tickets

The ruling BJP in Karnataka, its only southern garrison, is under pressure to beat back anti-incumbency by replacing some sitting MLAs with fresh faces, a possibility that party veteran B S Yediyurappa did not rule out on Thursday after the thumping victory in Gujarat where 42 incumbents were denied a contest.

“I am not in a position to say anything now,” Yediyurappa, a member of the BJP’s central parliamentary board and central election committee, said when asked if the ‘Gujarat model’ will be tried in Karnataka. “We will discuss with national leaders. Ultimately, they will decide.”

The Lingayat strongman said tickets will be given based on winnability. “Surveys are being done to determine who can win, and such candidates will get tickets,” he said.

When the BJP denied tickets to 42 sitting MLAs in Gujarat, Rajya Sabha MP Lahar Singh Siroya was among the first to call for a similar move in Karnataka.

“What has happened in Gujarat should serve as a model in Karnataka, too. Karnataka Assembly polls will be held in a few months from now. Senior leaders in the state should make way for younger people in the larger interest of the state and nation,” Siroya, who is known to have a hotline to the BJP central leadership, had said last month.

BJP insiders told DH that the ‘Gujarat model’ is a real possibility in Karnataka where the party’s central leadership is expected to make a landing soon to take control of the election effort in the face of a challenge posed by a ‘visible’ Congress. Speculation is that 20-25 sitting BJP MLAs who have been elected multiple times - the likes of former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, former deputy CM K S Eshwarappa and senior leader G H Thippareddy - may not get tickets.

“There is strong talk of creating a second line of leadership and chances are that fresh faces will be brought in,” a BJP office-bearer said. At an April 2022 party event in Mysuru, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh had created a flutter after he said “last benchers would be brought to the front” in the context of tickets.

“No decision has been taken on denying tickets to some sitting MLAs,” Revenue Minister R Ashoka said. “The high command is observing those who can’t win. Whatever strategy is needed to win will start from January,” he said, adding that Karnataka would get its own ‘model’ for victory. There is speculation about Ashoka’s ticket, too.

Political analyst Sandeep Shastri, however, felt the BJP would not do what it did in Gujarat. “They could afford to do that in Gujarat,” he said. “If you look at the legislature party in Karnataka, one-thirds are those who hail from frontal organisations, another one-thirds from BJP but not frontal organisations and one-thirds are those who aren’t native BJP leaders. So, I’m not sure they will bite the bullet.”

Also, with the Gujarat election over, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is expected to make a final push to expand his Cabinet that has six vacancies.