Bengaluru: Some top leaders of BJP’s Karnataka unit have been lobbying hard on behalf of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa to give him state party presidentship at the two-day national executive which began here on Friday.
Senior BJP and Rajya sabha MP Prabhakar Kore on Friday claimed that he and around 20 MLAs met BJP national president Amit Shah and apprised him on the importance of making Yeddyurappa the party president ahead of the 2018 assembly elections. He also said some members of national executive committee will also raise this issue at the meeting.
Kore also maintained that he had earlier met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to apprise him about the same.
Yeddyurappa who is now the national vice-president of the BJP among eleven others has been lying low after he denied a ministry in the Modi’s cabinet. Moreover, the Lingayat strongman has failed to make his presence felt at the national level since he is not very articulate either in Hindi or English.
Recently, Yeddyurappa had reportedly met Shah and expressed his desire to remain in the state and strengthen the party. “Give me the responsibility to build the BJP in Karnataka. I will bring BJP back to power in 2018″, a Loyalist of g Yeddyurappa said quoting his leader.
The tenure of Lok Sabha member and senior BJP leader Pralhad Joshi, who is the BJP State President now, will only get over in March, 2016, party sources said.
Legislators who are lobbying state presidentship for Yeddyurappa said with BJP getting majority in the centre under the leadership of Narendra Modi and the recent outrage against Siddaramaiah led Congress government over the mysterious death of IAS officxer D K Ravi, the state BJP leaders are too hopeful of bringing BJP back to power in the state provided the party is led by a Lingayat leader.
But sources said the party high command is unlikely to give Yeddyurappa the party president ship because he is still haunted by several corruption cases against him. “I don’t think the national leaders will pitch for Yeddyurappa unless he comes clean in a couple of cases,” a senior BJP leader said.
(Agencies)
