<p>Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will remain in office, the BJP’s executive committee asserted strongly earlier this week, and the whisper campaign that wants him out has been put on mute.</p>.<p>The story does not end there. As Bommai and the BJP step into a new year that will put Karnataka in election mode, if it isn’t already in one, there are talks of a ‘big’ Cabinet overhaul after the Sankranti festival. </p>.<p>But why, and how, is Bommai at the receiving end of speculation that the state will get a third BJP chief minister? There is no simple answer, and the buck may end with Bommai himself. </p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/state/top-karnataka-stories/karnataka-bjp-executive-body-backs-bommai-warns-against-speculation-1065731.html" target="_blank">Karnataka BJP executive body backs Bommai, warns against speculation</a></strong></p>.<p>Bommai became the chief minister five months ago, taking the reins from veteran B S Yediyurappa in a state seen as the BJP’s gateway to south India. Bommai kickstarted his innings making welfare his plank, while also projecting himself as the simplest of the netas’ lot. </p>.<p>Generally, the first six months of any new government is dubbed the ‘honeymoon’ period, to settle in and get a hang of things. </p>.<p>Even before this ‘honeymoon’ ended, rumours of a change in leadership became so widespread - as fresh as a week ago - that the bureaucracy smelled something fishy going by Bommai’s body language. “He is always on the edge, shouting at officers,” one officer says. </p>.<p>A senior leader blames Bommai for setting off rumours. “If he won’t assert himself, then Bommai will be seen as easy-going, reinforcing the view that he’s a night watchman.”</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Poll defeats</strong></p>.<p>Karnataka has seen four elections, all of them carrying their own significance, after Bommai became the chief minister.</p>.<p>In all four, the BJP’s performance was subpar. This week’s urban local body election results, for example, were disappointing for the BJP and did little to help Bommai’s cause. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/state/karnataka-politics/big-changes-in-karnataka-bommai-dismisses-speculations-as-media-creation-1065166.html" target="_blank">Big changes in Karnataka? Bommai dismisses speculations as 'media creation'</a></strong></p>.<p>The chatter in the BJP reveals some common threads: Bommai is yet to find complete acceptance from within the party, a section of legislators feels he is not taking them into confidence, and he is always surrounded by a coterie that insiders call “bad company”. </p>.<p>Another senior leader says while legislators were not averse to Yediyurappa throwing his weight around, Bommai’s attempts to emulate the former CM’s attitude has met with scorn. </p>.<p>“Is he feeling insecure? One symptom of that is for a person to be confined to a group comprising people who show loyalty,” a senior BJP office-bearer says.</p>.<p>“He knows there are people within the party who haven’t accepted him. But the point is that he should be taking everybody along.” </p>.<p>The discontent is simmering. “We are disappointed,” the office-bearer adds.</p>.<p>“There isn’t much difference between the Yediyurappa and Bommai governments. The sort of nepotism that plagued the previous administration continues. Native BJP leaders are not getting their due vis-a-vis those who came from the Congress and JD(S).” </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Hindutva agenda</strong></p>.<p>With welfare on one hand, Bommai is also chasing the Hindutva agenda, making people speculate that he is doing that to keep his chair safe.</p>.<p>The latest is the plan to free Hindu temples from state control, which former Congress minister Priyank Kharge says is “another example of CM Bommai trying to fit into RSS”.</p>.<p>One cannot rule out the possibility that the whisper campaign against Bommai is the handiwork of the ‘disgruntled’ ministerial aspirants. The 34-member Cabinet has four vacancies. </p>.<p>“The CM himself told me that there are plans to overhaul the Cabinet after Sankranti,” BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, a former union minister who was among the first to publicly predict Yediyurappa’s removal, said earlier this week. Yatnal himself is seen as a ministerial aspirant. </p>.<p>As captain, Bommai should be assertive, senior BJP MLC Lehar Singh says. “And, he should put an end to the gossip.” </p>.<p><em>(<span class="italic">With inputs from Akram Mohammed</span>)</em></p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will remain in office, the BJP’s executive committee asserted strongly earlier this week, and the whisper campaign that wants him out has been put on mute.</p>.<p>The story does not end there. As Bommai and the BJP step into a new year that will put Karnataka in election mode, if it isn’t already in one, there are talks of a ‘big’ Cabinet overhaul after the Sankranti festival. </p>.<p>But why, and how, is Bommai at the receiving end of speculation that the state will get a third BJP chief minister? There is no simple answer, and the buck may end with Bommai himself. </p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/state/top-karnataka-stories/karnataka-bjp-executive-body-backs-bommai-warns-against-speculation-1065731.html" target="_blank">Karnataka BJP executive body backs Bommai, warns against speculation</a></strong></p>.<p>Bommai became the chief minister five months ago, taking the reins from veteran B S Yediyurappa in a state seen as the BJP’s gateway to south India. Bommai kickstarted his innings making welfare his plank, while also projecting himself as the simplest of the netas’ lot. </p>.<p>Generally, the first six months of any new government is dubbed the ‘honeymoon’ period, to settle in and get a hang of things. </p>.<p>Even before this ‘honeymoon’ ended, rumours of a change in leadership became so widespread - as fresh as a week ago - that the bureaucracy smelled something fishy going by Bommai’s body language. “He is always on the edge, shouting at officers,” one officer says. </p>.<p>A senior leader blames Bommai for setting off rumours. “If he won’t assert himself, then Bommai will be seen as easy-going, reinforcing the view that he’s a night watchman.”</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Poll defeats</strong></p>.<p>Karnataka has seen four elections, all of them carrying their own significance, after Bommai became the chief minister.</p>.<p>In all four, the BJP’s performance was subpar. This week’s urban local body election results, for example, were disappointing for the BJP and did little to help Bommai’s cause. </p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/state/karnataka-politics/big-changes-in-karnataka-bommai-dismisses-speculations-as-media-creation-1065166.html" target="_blank">Big changes in Karnataka? Bommai dismisses speculations as 'media creation'</a></strong></p>.<p>The chatter in the BJP reveals some common threads: Bommai is yet to find complete acceptance from within the party, a section of legislators feels he is not taking them into confidence, and he is always surrounded by a coterie that insiders call “bad company”. </p>.<p>Another senior leader says while legislators were not averse to Yediyurappa throwing his weight around, Bommai’s attempts to emulate the former CM’s attitude has met with scorn. </p>.<p>“Is he feeling insecure? One symptom of that is for a person to be confined to a group comprising people who show loyalty,” a senior BJP office-bearer says.</p>.<p>“He knows there are people within the party who haven’t accepted him. But the point is that he should be taking everybody along.” </p>.<p>The discontent is simmering. “We are disappointed,” the office-bearer adds.</p>.<p>“There isn’t much difference between the Yediyurappa and Bommai governments. The sort of nepotism that plagued the previous administration continues. Native BJP leaders are not getting their due vis-a-vis those who came from the Congress and JD(S).” </p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Hindutva agenda</strong></p>.<p>With welfare on one hand, Bommai is also chasing the Hindutva agenda, making people speculate that he is doing that to keep his chair safe.</p>.<p>The latest is the plan to free Hindu temples from state control, which former Congress minister Priyank Kharge says is “another example of CM Bommai trying to fit into RSS”.</p>.<p>One cannot rule out the possibility that the whisper campaign against Bommai is the handiwork of the ‘disgruntled’ ministerial aspirants. The 34-member Cabinet has four vacancies. </p>.<p>“The CM himself told me that there are plans to overhaul the Cabinet after Sankranti,” BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, a former union minister who was among the first to publicly predict Yediyurappa’s removal, said earlier this week. Yatnal himself is seen as a ministerial aspirant. </p>.<p>As captain, Bommai should be assertive, senior BJP MLC Lehar Singh says. “And, he should put an end to the gossip.” </p>.<p><em>(<span class="italic">With inputs from Akram Mohammed</span>)</em></p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>