Not everyone in the BJP and RSS is happy with the saffron party’s “interference” in the recent Kannada Sahitya Parishat presidential election, it is now learnt.
The suspension of M Mahendra Gowda, a Bengaluru South BJP leader, for allegedly not supporting former Doordarshan additional director general Mahesh Joshi in the polls, has created a buzz in the saffron circles.
Joshi, who won the election, will take charge as the Parishat president on Friday.
Apparently, Joshi contacted a senior RSS leader seeking support in the elections. It is believed that this RSS leader exerted pressure on BJP leaders to ensure the party stood by Joshi. Instructions were given within the party to campaign for Joshi and a strategy was devised to bring voters to the polling centre. As a result, in several districts, the voting percentage was more than 70, sources said.
BJP workers are said to have worked akin to general elections by making a list of voters and bringing them to the polling booth. A senior BJP leader said that the voting percentage in Bengaluru did not cross 28 as the party did not openly campaign for Joshi here, fearing media criticism.
However, BJP general secretary N Ravikumar rubbished claims that the BJP backed Joshi. He said no instructions were given to any party member to support any one candidate. “A few might have personally supported him, but the party was not involved,” he specified.
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(Published 24 November 2021, 19:14 IST)
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