I don't wish to be a competitor, says B L Santhosh after Shettar's allegations

Jagadish Shettar had publicly named him as the reason for denial of his Hubli-Dharwad (Central) ticket

In a cryptic, but politically-loaded statement, the influential BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh on Friday said he is not a competitor to his party colleagues.

“There are many leaders and I don’t wish to be a competitor for them,” a media-shy Santhosh said in an off-the-cuff remark to a request by reporters for a comment on the May 10 Assembly election. He then pointed to Mysore MP Pratap Simha and directed reporters to speak with him.

Santhosh’s statement, obscure as it was, came days after former BJP chief minister Jagadish Shettar publicly named him as the reason for the denial of his Hubli-Dharwad (Central) ticket, forcing him to join Congress. The BJP ended up fielding party general secretary Mahesh Tenginkayi who is seen as Santhosh’s protege.

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In political circles, the statement by Santhosh, a Brahmin, was also seen in the context of his name coming up time and again as a chief ministerial aspirant. Santhosh’s name has been murmured for the chief minister’s job for at least a decade now.

The Udupi-born Santhosh - also dubbed as BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa’s bete noire - holds a position that is considered to be the second most powerful in the saffron party after its national president.

The 56-year-old was in Mysuru to attend digital party workers’ meet. “We have withdrawn 4 per cent reservation of Muslims and given two percentage points each to Vokkaligas and Lingayats. We have increased reservation for SC/STs. We have taken forward the reservation cycle. It is not possible for Congress to withdraw this as they will not come to power,” he said.

Santhosh claimed that 99 per cent of surveys conducted by reliable sources were in favour of BJP. “BJP will emerge as biggest party in election. But Congressmen have been projecting surveys conducted by unknown companies,” he said.

Targeting Siddaramaiah, he said there was no need for BJP to search for a constituency for its CM. “The person from Mysuru had to return to Varuna after losing hopes in other segments. They have claimed that his son Dr Yathindra sacrificed the seat,” he said.

“Siddaramaiah had to contest from Varuna to save his dignity and there’s no sacrifice. Real sacrifice is what K S Eshwarappa and S A Ramadass have done,” he said, referring to the two sitting BJP MLAs who were denied tickets. Hailing BJP’s decision to field 40 party workers, he urged party colleagues to ‘support changes’. He juxtaposed this by saying Siddaramaiah had introduced his grandson (Dhawan Rakesh) as his successor. “I pity Congress workers.”